Jungle Cruise

 

8.5/10

In this new Disney movie base on the theme park attraction of the same name, archaeologist and explorer Lily Houghton (played by Emily Blunt) hires down-on-his-luck boat captain Frank Wolff (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) to travel down a South American river in search of a legendary petal with miraculous healing capabilities.

This movie recycles stuff. Frank, Lily, and her brother MacGregor (played by Jack Whitehall) are pretty much the Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan characters from The Mummy. Lily's talented-woman-defying-the-old-timey-patriarchy character is very by-the-numbers. Plus, the supernatural villains in this really are the jungle equivalents of Davey Jones' fish-people crew from the second and third pirates of the Caribbean movies. 

That all having been said, this is still a very entertaining and well-made generic action story. I think that Disney tied to course correct from some of their past live action films (the PoC sequels, Tomorrowland, The Lone Ranger, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and John Carter), which felt too story heavy or taking themselves too seriously. Jungle Cruise adds more humor to the proceedings and really tries to be more of a family adventure. The script does a surprisingly good job of juggling the leads and two sets of villains without making the film feel bloated. The backstory is given a little more thought than expected, especially when it comes to the conquistador storyline.

For fans of the original ride, the movie manages to organically include references. A rather good idea is having Frank be a fan of bad jokes, making him a stand-in for the tour guides from the ride.  

This was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, whose filmography has mostly been horror or Liam Neeson action thrillers (seriously, like a lot of Neeson). This is his first attempt at a family film or a mega budget popcorn adventure, and he really pulls it off without a hitch. The editing can be a bit quick, but overall this is a very good-looking movie. Really captures the "classic jungle adventure" feel. 

Though playing predictable characters, the two leads deliver fine performances. (Spoiler alert: The Rock is charming.) Jesse Plemmons gives a great performance as the villain Prince Joachim. He plays a character who can both be comedic in his eccentricities but also manages to be a clever and capable foe. Really, acting's good all across the board here.

Highly recommended. The movie might be playing it safe, but it's lots of fun and feels the closest to recapturing the magic of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

F9: The Fast Saga

8/10

In F9, Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) and the gang must stop his estranged brother Jakob (John Cena) from gaining a technology that can bring the world to its knees.

The F&F movies since the third one have done a surprisingly good job of remaining consistently fun over the years. However, Fate of the Furious finally felt like the franchise had hit a plateau and was starting to run out of steam. However, I'm glad to say that this installment brings the magic back. (It probably doesn't hurt that Justin Lin, who helmed movies three through six is back.) The movie just defines popcorn action flicks, having a fun, over-the-top sense of action, including some new car-related gimmicks the series hasn't done before. 

I think the trio of Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) really shine in this one. Though I haven't been the biggest fan of Roman in each movie (especially not a fan of him in 2 Fast 2 Furious), he's great here as the comic relief. The movie pokes fun at how unrealistic everything is getting by having Roman start questioning the crazy outlandish situations the cast manages to survive through. He and Tej have wonderful back forth between each other, and Ramsey does a good job as the straight man (also I liked her new look in this.)

It does feel too late in the game to give Dom a brother, not to mention that the long-lost sibling trope is so worn out. Still, the backstory between Dom and Jakob is really engrossing. Jakob makes for a fine antagonist and Diesel really captures the raw emotion Dom has to portray when dealing with his brother and the past. The movie also manages to satisfyingly explain the brothers' backstory while working with the tidbits of Dom's past that were mentioned all the way back in the first movie. (I got to give it to this franchise, it does a surprisingly good job with continuity and and callbacks to past characters; F9 is no different.)    

The movie's secondary villain Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen), Jakob's partner-in-crime, is something the F&F series hasn't been done before, he's humorous. Otto's a spoiled rich kid who's kind of honest about what he is, and he's pretty fun. Cypher (Charlize Theron), the main villain from the last film returns. I find her dialogue, outfit and haircut were a step up this time. (The original style appearance didn't match the personality in my opinion.) However, she feels like a poor man's master criminal. The producers are trying to push her as the series' big bad, but she's missing a little something.

Recommended. If you liked most of the films in this franchise, you'll probably like this one.

Fear Street: Part One, 1994

8/10

Nowadays, R.L. Stine's name is synonymous with the children's horror series Goosebumps, which has been a dominant force in the industry for some decades. Though this is Stine's biggest hit, this isn't his first success. Before Goosebumps, he wrote the teen-focused horror series Fear Street. Though it didn't have the literary longevity of Goosebumps, FS was big during the nineties. Given Stine's fame after Goosebumps, I'm actually surprised it's taken this long for television or film to capitalize on his other brand.

Fear Street Part One on Netflix, is an interesting venture. It's the first in a film trilogy whose installments are all released in the same month. The format kind of makes sense considering that Fear Street would occasionally have trilogy subseries. In the movie, Deena (played by Kiana Madeira) is a teen in the town of Shadyside who runs afoul of the deadly curse that plagues it.

This movie goes for sort of a classic 80's/90's horror feel and I rather like it. For fans of horror violence, there are a couple of truly violent kills, including one particularly creative one. 

I was rather satisfied with the killer or killers. (I'll keep things vague since the trailer doesn't say much.)

On the other hand, the movie suffers from too much teen drama. I just feel that movies are overdoing it on the youths having hard times. I'm here to watch people run away from murderers. That's what I want. Plus, the movie suffers from a rival school that is super mean for absolutely no reason. Shadyside is supposed to be the "loser/ill-fated" town, and the movie leans on people mentioning this way too hard. Luckily, the worst of this in only the setup. The self-loathing subsides once the real threat starts.

All the actors playing the teens are of legal age, but are mostly pretty young and could pass for actual high schoolers. Their appearance makes things uncomfortable. The movie does not shy away from sexuality and the stripping of clothing. It looks like the underage are doing these acts.

The score has an old-school and overtly-dramatic score. Feels a little dated, but the music is strong.

Can't say this is the most memorable slasher ever made, but it's nice to have one of these these days and makes for a fine time waster.

Snake Eyes

8/10

Snake Eyes is a GI Joe spinoff movie (for a new reboot universe, not related to the last two films). It tells the origin of the titular ninja and GI Joe member (played by Henry Golding) and how he ends up being trained by a secret ninja clan.

The trailer seemed like a fairly basic action film to me, however, I'm pleased to say this was better than I expected. Now let me make it clear, in general the movie operates on a general storyline. It's not the best out there or too groundbreaking, but a lot more effort was put into the details than you'd expect. (I think the creators realized the biggest issues with the last two films was the scripts.) There is more effort given to characterization. Snake Eyes' journey has more going on than expected. Characterization and dialogue is surprisingly solid and there are a few good reveals and fun ideas, too. Not to mention that the big fight on the end, though your traditional finale battle, had more thought and planning given the action than expected. 

With the movie running at approximately two hours, I do admit that that the story could've been shortened. Fight scenes are few and far between, and I can see some viewers getting bored.

A lot of hardcore GI Joe fans won't be happy with the huge changes made to Snake Eyes. The whole thing that made him popular was that he was a mysterious guy, his face unseen and voice unheard, and had this distinctive ninja armor that had a visor for some reason. Now, the costume's barely in this and the mystery is completely gone. This does reek of the producers having a lack of faith in what made the character. If you're unable to get past this, there's really nothing about this movie I think can really convince you other wise. 

There is some surprisingly strong acting in this. There's a guy playing a Yakuza boss, who's got about one line of dialogue, but he puts such a crazy amount of effort into it. Henry Golding does a fine job puling off the lead, but the most credit needs to be given to Andrew Koji as Tommy, the man who recruits Snake Eyes into the ninja life. He delivers a truly emotionally complex character. 

Overall, this was an interesting film. I don't think you need to pay top dollar to watch it in the theater or at home, but when this movie gets less costly to watch, you should give this a try. It's definitely the best of the GI Joe movies. (Live-action. The animated film has the Joes fighting Cobra on jet packs and such over the Statue of Liberty with the GI Joe song playing. Nothing is going to match that.) I also felt it was better plotted than the kinda similar ninja action film The Wolverine.

Gunpowder Milkshake

8/10

In Gunpowder Milkshake on Netflix, Sam (played by Karen Gillan) a hitwoman for The Firm is tasked with retrieving a guy who stolen from them. What should be a simple mission escalates into a series of events that result in Sam becoming the protector of young Emily (My Spy's Chloe Coleman).

Admittedly this is a John Wick clone, except Gunpowder Milkshake  takes itself less seriously and is willing to have more fun and be more humorous. A lot of this feels like it's following a formula, but then you you'll get a rather inspired scene or line of dialogue.

The story is interesting in that it's that rare dog that can both over explain and under explain. Parts of the firm and the criminal world the characters live in is made quite clear and other times things can get rather vague. 

Though the movie is shot like JW on a smaller budget, it has a decent style. The fight scenes are pretty entertaining. 

The cast is really strong all around, including the likes of Lena Heady, Carla Gugino, Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh, and Paul Giamatti. Gillan does a great job in the lead as a tough, very capable individual who's also a little socially awkward. Coleman is kinda playing the same type of precocious girl she played in  My Spy, but she does it well.

I'm a little surprised with how low a lot of the audience scores are. Yeah this isn't the most original work, but I found it be a pretty entertaining, competently made action flick that's a good time waster.

Space Jam: a New Legacy

7/10

In this sequel to 1996's Space Jam, which has developed a loyal fan base over the years, basketball player LeBron James is trapped in the WarnerMedia Serververse (home to all WB IP), by a vengeful computer program Al G. Rhythm (get it?!) (played by Don Cheadle). He's also kidnapped James' son (his movie son, not real son) (played by Cedric Joe) and won't let them leave unless LeBron beats Rhythm's team at basketball. The athlete ends up teaming up with the Looney Tunes in order to save the day.

First off, LeBron is not a great actor. Michael Jordan in the original wasn't a great one either, but he fared better than LeBron. 'Course, I think the first film knew how to play better to the lead's strengths. This film feels more story heavy and Lebron is required to do a lot more. The movie have him at times to be a hard father who wants different things than his son and having LeBron be a bit of a jerk, albeit unintended, and do more serious stuff isn't a thing he can pull off. That having been said, the guy is definitely game for everything and doing his best and doesn't seem disinterested or like he's coasting. LeBron does better with the non-exposition scenes when he gets to be happy or mad. The star/Toon dynamic is also different. Jordan was more the cool mentor type who was weirdly chill when he met Bugs, LeBron's more likely to be a part of the lunacy and is legitimately thrilled to meet the rabbit (voiced by Jeff Bergman).

Cheadle on the other hand, is given some very basic bad guy dialogue with his material, but he's doing his best with what he's got here.

SJaNL is a lot like the original in that it's not perfect, but there's a lot to like about it. There are several clever or funny moments throughout this. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously and you shouldn't either. I appreciate that New Legacy tackles the same basic story as Space Jam but manages to do it in a different enough way, switching from an alien threat to computer programs and giving more of a video game theme to how the basketball game is played. Plus, the stakes feel a little bigger here than in the original. The father/son gap is predictable but is handled pretty well, and the script does a good job of explaining why LeBron has this tough style of parenting at the beginning. You can't get behind him, but you understand where he's coming from. 

I know a lot of people are complaining about how much WB product is jammed into this and that this feels like an advertisement for the company. Personally, I'm not hating it. I won't deny that except for Bugs, the plot and other properties don't give the Looney Tunes enough time to shine with such characters as the Tazmanian Devil (Fred Tatasciore), Elmer Fudd (Eric Bauza) and Lola Bunny (Zendaya) barely getting anything to do. But, the various worlds and characters in this movie add a bit of fun to the proceedings and it's fun to see LeBron and the Toons interact with it all. There are a surprising amount of references for just the adults and that'll be fun for older audiences. However, expect kids to ask questions about properties that they don't know about. There are a a few selections in this that one can argue don't fit in a kids' movie (like Game of Thrones and a background cameo of the Droogs from Clockwork Orange). Also, they really try to squeeze in EVERY property WB owns, resulting in references that  your kids won't get, such as background appearances by the kid from The Bad Seed and Baby Jane.       

I think I liked The Monstars, the rival team from the first Space Jam, a little more than this films' team The Goon Squad. (The Monstars had more of a traditional Looney Tunes look and feel to them). That having been said, I liked the new guys. It took me a moment to warm up The Goon Squad 'cause their design was a different style than the Toons, but at the end of the day, credit has to be given to giving each character a distinct look and powers.

I think I preferred the original's use of cel animation and greater shadow work, which resulted in a more theatrical feel. Still, the animators definitely did a lot of work here, resulting in a slick, shiny look. For the 2D animation, I mean. The ads have been stressing the Toons' new 3D designs, which also look good, but they don't appear immediately. And that's the neat thing about this movie: it's mix of styles and media. You'll see LeBron switch between cartoon and live-action based on what world he's in. (By the way, I particularly liked the design of his cartoon version.) There is one particular world featuring Lola that particularly feels visually unique and really well animated. Going back to what I was saying about liking what they do differently between movies, I liked what they did with the basketball court here. It feels very different from the traditional indoor court of the first film and has a grander scale when it comes to the audience.

I think I liked the first film better, because it was simpler in it's story and more emphasis was put on the Looney Tunes, but I did have fun with this. Imperfect, but the highs are definitely highs. You're children will probably love this.

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions

 

6/10

In this sequel to Escape Room, the evil Minos Corporation has again kidnapped Zoey Davis (Taylor Russell) as well as other survivors of their deadly, and delightfully unbelievable, escape rooms to once again compete.

The movie does deliver what it promises when it comes to the death traps. If that's only what you came for, you should be pleased. It's another creative array of truly harrowing and detailed death games. The production crew definitely earned their pay on building these sets. That having been said, I personally think the first movie's death traps stood out more, with the beach trap being the only super visually memorable one in this. They're making the mind games a little complicated here, so it can be hard to follow and I think that one of the traps near the end was too nasty for it's own good. But my complaints aside. I mostly liked the deadly rooms here; I'm just saying the first ones beat them in a contest.  

I'm liking the new victims in this. Good cast with distinctive personalities.

The plot is why I'm not ranking this higher. First off there is one major plot hole that is pretty clear from the start. Minos does something that doesn't match up with how it operated in the last film. In fact, one of the characters bring that up. However, the writers never bother giving an actual answer for why for the lack of consistency. That issue alone probably wouldn't have been that big a deal, but in the third act the story just falls apart. I know that a movie about a secret cabal operating death games for betting and amusement isn't really a grounded idea, but the script gets nonsensical and needlessly complicated. Really disappointed in the ending. Sure, the last film went out of it's way to set up the next film, but it did end mostly on a reasonable and satisfying note. This finale left me empty.    

If you just want to see the death traps, you'll be fine. But if you don't like it when horror movies do really dumb or unnatural things, there's a good chance you'll be turned off by this.