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Alita: Battle Angel Movie Review

February 14, 2019 (updated February 14, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Alita: Battle Angel” is a new visual treat of a movie that is based on a long admired Japanese manga series. The people behind this movie are superb craftsman; Robert Rodriguez as the director, and James Cameron as producer and co-writer. However, perhaps that is part of the disconnect of this movie. There is a fully realized vision of a bleak future landscape. Yet the story-line bumps and clunks along with the grace of an ancient Model-T running in the Daytona 500 NASCAR. The characters are one-dimensional, even at the same time the screen pops with a vivid 3-D treatment of the visuals.

In a far, far future Earth, there are only leftovers and broken remains from the destruction due to the Earth’s war against URM (United Republics of Mars). The planet-bound people are poor and insignificant. However, up above there is a wealthy and powerful population in a floating ‘sky city’ of Zalem. There are few that go from the crusty and rusty Iron City up to glowing wonder of Zalem. Many are discarded and fall from grace, but the few that rise are the champions who can win at a most violent (and popular) sport called Motorball. It is full of speed and of danger and violent death. But most of the contestants are Cyborgs (half human, half robo-mechanical creatures). So, they never really die, they are rebuilt by people like Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz).

Dr. Ido finds a valuable treasure in the trash heap that is under the floating Zalem paradise. Anything that is considered junk is dumped from the city down in the pile of junk. But Ido finds a discarded ‘CORE’ of a cyborg. It is a teenage girl head and torso, which Ido attaches to a fitting cyborg body. Alita (Rosa Salazar) is created out of excess junk but she becomes a stand-in for Ido’s dead daughter. She is young and naive, but she quickly picks up battle skills. She is noticed by Chiren (Jennifer Connelly), who is Ido’s ex-wife. She and Ido once had a high place up in Zalem but were ousted for some reason. Alita also meets Hugo (Keean Johnson), while he is out collecting scraps around Iron City. He sells stuff to make a living. Alita is smitten with the world-wise scavenger and entrepreneur.

But there’s trouble afoot, up in the Zalem city – there is a bad guy named Nova. He sees Alita as a threat to him and to his henchman Vector (Mahershala Ali) in Iron City. Vector sends robotic cyborg bounty hunters named Zapan (Ed Skrein) and Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley) to track Alita and kill her. Alita finds an upgraded body based on URM technology. Once Dr. Ito takes care of the body upgrade for Alita, she finds that she can fight and defeat anyone, human or cyborg. Dr. Ido and Hugo are also targeted for death, and Alita is worried about them. The only way that she can get up to the floating Zalem city is by playing and winning the next Motorball contest. That is difficult thing to do, but Alita is souped-up and ready to rumble.

“Alita: Battle Angel” takes some difficult source material and has attempted to do it justice. When this has been done before, the results are always hit or miss. That same thing goes for this movie. The visual world that it creates is a big thumbs-up hit. The characters that populate this movie, with all the odd personality tweaks and clunky dialog, is a bit of a miss. The CGI effects are world-class, especially Alita with the super-sized ‘manga’ eyes. All the robots and cyborgs and the city design and the battle scenes are amazing to watch. Too bad the story and dialog does not reach up to the same lofty levels as the rest of the movie.

The movie hits a home run with the beautiful formation of the visual landscape, and the people and creatures that roam in this world. But it plays some sour notes with the ‘borrowed’ story elements (from ‘Elysium’, Rollerball’, even the doomed love affair from ‘Titanic’). There are too many 2-D characters in this vivid and lush 3-D movie.

Miss Bala Movie Review

February 1, 2019 (updated January 31, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Miss Bala” is actually a remake of an earlier Spanish-language version. But this new one is bigger on the action, violence and explosions, because – wwll – because it is a Hollywood remake. The story gets into cross-border action between the United States and Mexico, specifically in Tijuana and San Diego. The Mexican drug cartels, crooked local Mexican cops, crooked Mexican Federales, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and even the CIA get thrown into the mix. The story uses the local Tijuana beauty pageant as a vehicle to jump start a tense action thriller with a long and winding resolution.

Gloria Meyer (Gina Rodriguez) works as makeup artist in the Los Angeles area. She was born in the US, but has spent much of her childhood in Tijuana, Mexico. Her best friend there is named Suzu (Cristina Rodlo), and Suzu is planning on being in the Miss Baja California beauty contest. Gloria is with Suzu when she registers, and that night they decide to celebrate at the hot local club. However, the place is way too hot. The local Federale general, who is also a crooked drug kingpin, is scheduled to attend. So a group of actual drug cartel members break in to assassinate him. This group is led by Lino (Ismael Cruz Córdova). Lino finds Gloria hiding in a bathroom, and tells her to leave quietly. The shooting starts and people scatter everywhere. Gloria looses track of Suzu, and vows to find her. The next day she goes to a local cop to get help.

Instead, she is kidnapped by Lido and his henchmen. She is unwittingly brought into a plan to blow up a Mexican DEA safe house. She is terrified, and feels there is no way to escape. But when Lido make Gloria sign up for the beauty contest, she finds a way to ditch the cartel. But she is found by DEA Agent named Brian (Matt Lauria). He forces Gloria to go undercover and report to him. Or else, she will be prosecuted for the deaths at the DEA safe house. Gloria goes back to Lido and his gang of thugs. However, Lido has a new plan for Gloria. She is sent across the border with a secret stash of cash and drugs. Since she has a valid American passport, they do not question her. She meets up with another cartel henchman named Jimmy (Anthony Mackie). He tells Gloria to send a message to Lido – he has a mole in his outfit.

DEA Agent Brian is told about a big transfer of weapons to happen in Tijuana. Gloria lets him know about it and they plan an ambush. A major shootout occurs in a parking lot, and all hell breaks loose. Lido and the cartel members are under fire from the DEA and from Mexican police. Gloria is told to find her own way out, so she decides to instead stay with Lido. They escape and the bad guys find their way to a new safe house far away. Gloria finds that the beauty contest will be rigged, and the judges have been bought off. Gloria will win the contest, and that will give her private ‘access’ to the local Federale general. This means that Lido has a new assignation plot in the works.

Gloria finds that she has the power, in the end, to find her friend Suzu and to take out some really bad guys. Oh yes, all of this while looking really hot in a tight red dress and wearing heals. The people who told Gloria one thing were hiding information, or were telling flat out lies. She had to come up with ways to escape all sorts of deadly situations. She was caught in automatic round crossfire, and she was still walking tall, never hit or even scratched. Man, that woman needs to buy a lottery ticket – NOW!

Unlike other recent movies, “Miss Bala” gets about inch deep into the reality of drug smuggling and cartel operations. “Traffic” was crystal clear in showing how destructive illegal drugs can be. The movie “Sicario” gets into details about the cross-border drug smuggling operations. Even a movie the “The Mule” showed the heinous nature of the cartel methods of distributing drugs. This movie only uses cartels and Mexican Federale and DEA agents as devices to push and manipulate Gloria around the way they want. Even at the end, when it opens up a slight potential for Gloria as a continuing franchise character, someone who just be willing to do this same thing for the CIA, it is not of her free will.

Director Catherine Hardwicke takes a very pedestrian approach to the movie, by setting up selected trigger events that push the story forward. It looks really good, and there is a lot of up-beat music, even during the periods where there is great danger. Gina Rodriguez is quite good, but the role gives her limited room to create a full character. She is consistently reacting to things done by other people. Her character is led around to do this and that, but she never indicates that she would do something totally different. Also playing Lino is Ismael Cruz Córdova, and he play quite a charming sociopath. He is sometimes low-key and charming, and in the next minute he can blow away a traitor in the group. He is very convincing in this role.

“Miss Bala” is a remake of the original Spanish-language version, but something was lost in the translation.

They Shall Not Grow Old Movie review

February 1, 2019 (updated January 31, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“They Shall Not Grow Old” is a film-making marvel and a technological achievement. But much, much more than that: this movie is a tribute and a salute of honor to the many British soldiers who went off to fight in World War I. Many of these brave lads never returned, and ‘they shall not grow old’. Director Peter Jackson has taken actual movie footage from the historical era and transformed it to a documentary that explores the horrors of trench warfare. He has taken hundreds of hours of old footage, along with hundreds of hours of audio interviews – and with this raw material, he has created a fully immersive look at what the average ‘doughboy’ actually experienced at the Front. Working with The Imperial War Museum and the BBC, Jackson has taken and then digitized, colorized and did a 3-D conversion a whole lot of rough grainy badly-shot movie footage. The result is a very informative and in engaging peek into what happened over one hundred years ago.

The original movie cameras back at time produced some very poor quality footage. The film in the camera was over cranked, meaning the speed when projected back later was too fast and jerky. The film was not meant to last forever, so there are many places where it has faded and has accumulated dust particles. Even with this as a starting point, Peter Jackson has gotten some of the most talented film restoration and production people involved in restoring hours of film – frame by frame. His final result becomes a slow build up to the central part – the reconstructed view of the Front Line in World War I.

The beginning is shown in the overly fast-speed and poor quality images of London prior to WWI. When war comes, it is publicized in every way that England needs to fight to exist, and to keep Europe free. With the soundtrack repeating story after story of many under aged fellows getting into the service, it shows how they trained to be a fighting force. Soon, they are over in Belgium and France, and it is obvious that the bombing and shelling has taken a toll. At one point, the black and white image turns into a colorized version. The troops meet their new home in the trenches. They know there are German soldier only dozens of yards away. There is a deadly bog of twisted barbed wire and mines that make up a dreaded “No Man’s Land” between the two sides. Enemy snipers are always ready to take out a soldier who might peek over the side of the trench at the wrong time. There are massive bombardments of mortars and grenades, and these things make for an unpleasant place to be.

It is very odd to see images from over one hundred years ago with this level of sharpness and clarity. The extra added color in many of the scenes add to the depth of experience that you are watching recent newsreel footage. Some of the stories told by the men who served there are stark and full of vivid detail. Most of them contain terrible descriptions of the conditions and the results of the battles fought. Many people died, on both sides. The loss of life was staggering, but almost all the British soldiers did what they know how to do. They carried on. They ate and drank tea, and they would sing bawdy songs, such as “Mademoiselle from Armentières”. But mostly they fought in the “Great War”, because this was the “War to End All Wars”. Little did they know…

But just as the First World War came to an end, this movie also shows that the surviving troops returned home. They were greet as heroes, but promptly were forgotten. The world economy was in shambles, and unemployment was high. When the large influx of soldiers came back to England, there were not as many jobs there as when they left. But each of the men who served at the Front came back with a changed outlook on life. Each one knew at any time, the fragile thread of life could be snapped by the cruel hand of Death. They had seen that up close way too many times. Some retreated into a bottle to combat their own demons. Yet a majority of them stood up straight and became leaders and fathers and the backbone of British society.

Peter Jackson has dedicated this movie to Sgt. William Jackson, his grandfather who served in World War I. So it shows the depth of commitment that he had to make everything about this documentary something very special. He has accomplished this goal.

Per the press release, the producers note that this year marks the 100-year anniversary of the “Great War” coming to an end:

“With this being the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, I can’t imagine a more appropriate time to honor the courage of the soldiers who fought in WWI — what was then ‘the war to end all wars’ — many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. Peter has made history come alive through the medium of film, and we are so pleased to be a part of bringing his vision to today’s audiences.”

Blast from the Past (January 2019)

January 28, 2019 Published by JMcNaughton

Yeah, the Box Office is rockin’ today with a whole lot of movies. But there are some from prior years that you may (or may not) remember. These older movies came out 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago, maybe even longer back. Some were instant classics, while others were not. So let’s jump into the DeLorean and travel backwards in time to revisit a few of these forgotten gems…

January 2014 (5 years ago) — That Awkward Moment – “Awkward” sums up everything about this movie

Yeah, the releases in January are mostly junk that did not find a spot on the release calendar any earlier – and that goes for this “Awkward” sex comedy, with Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan. All have moved on to better things…

January 2009 (10 years ago) — Taken – Liam Neeson has some ‘particular set of skills’ that kills at the Box Office

It was a rare January release that took the theater audiences by storm and made them root for some ‘old guy’ to beat the snot out of any person who stands in his way of getting his daughter back. Liam Neeson was so good at being an ex-Agency security agent turned rogue revenge superstar, that it made being old cool again.

January 2004 (15 years ago) — The Perfect Score – An underrated comedy that did not receive a perfect score

Where can you find a future Captain America and SHIELD Agent Natasha on a quest to break in and steal Standardized Test answers? This is small little picture (with two future superstars) that tanked at the box office. But the set up was there, the story was OK, and the acting was decent. But people thought this high school heist caper did not make the grade…

January 1999 (20 years ago) — She’s All That – Somewhat standard romance movie with Freddie Prinze, Jr and Rachel Leigh Cook

This was a teenage revision of “My Fair Lady”. A high school stud (Prinze) who wants to take a nerdy girl (Leigh) and turn her into a ravishing beauty who will become the Prom Queen. Spoiler Alert: she was beauty from the start. Made lots o’ money at the box office. Also, there was a side role of the future ‘Fast and Furious’ actor: Paul Walker.

January 1995 (25 years ago) — Houseguest – The releases in January are mostly junk, and this one stars Sinbad and Phil Hartman

So the ‘star’ power of Sinbad and Phil Hartman could not generate any buzz at the box office. This one has Sinbad faking his identity to fool Phil Hartman into letting him stay at his house to hide from the mob. Was not a total failure, but it was nothing special…

January 1989 (30 years ago) — The January Man – This one at least has the appropriate name for the release month…

The movie is about an ex-NYPD detective (Kevin Kline) who is needed to return to his position by his police commissioner brother. There is a serial killer in New York City, and Kevin Kline is the man to find him. Not much there, and the box office receipts bear that out. Except that there is also a side role played by Alan Rickman. This comes only a year after Die Hard.

The Kid Who Would be King Movie Review

January 25, 2019 (updated January 23, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

Retelling the tale of King Arthur is as common as giant turkey legs at a Renaissance Faire. But in the movie “The Kid Who Would Be King” the ‘Once and Future King’ is a little on the young side. The Sword Excalibur is meant only for the hands of the King. But when a young kid pulls out the sword in a modern-day England – that schoolboy’s life gets turned around. Good thing he has help of an ancient and mighty sorcerer named Merlin. However, he is also portrayed as another young boy, just more eccentric. There is an evil presence from King Arthur’s day ready to return and destroy all of England, so the new Kid King has his work cut out for him.

Alex Elloit (Louis Serkis) is getting a rough time at school in a small town outside of London. He and his best pal Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) get picked on everyday. Two older kids named Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris) are very cruel to Alex and Bedders. One night, while hiding from the two, Alex ducks into a construction site. He finds an unusual site – there is a sword in a stone. He’s is able to remove and take it home. Little does he know that an evil sorceress named Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) has been imprisoned and knows the sword is active. She is the half-sister of King Arthur and she is held by a powerful spell from the Ancient Merlin (Patrick Stewart). She vows to escape and lead her undead evil minions to destroy the Kingdom.

Alex learns that a young version of Merlin (Angus Imrie) has come back to assist him. Merlin seems to be just an oddball at school, but he shows Alex, Bedders, Lance and Kaye some very powerful magic. In four days, during a solar eclipse, Morgana plans to rise from the prison of darkness and overtake the world. Alex does not know how to be a leader. Bedders is basically scared of everything. Lance is bully who puts himself first, and Kaye is not interested in helping other people. But with a lot of effort, this ragtag group travels across the country to seek out the truth, a Quest for the future of England.

Alex and his crew finally get to the place where Morgana is entrapped. They think they have defeated her, but there is another – and a much larger – battle to come. The solar eclipse releases Morgana and some terrible forces from the Earth. But Alex and gotten his entire school ready to fight. There is a huge CGI battle-fest, with undead minions on black horses and Morgana returned as a female bat-dragon type of thing. It is only because of the ‘Earth in darkness but not in night’ that allows Alex to have so many people join his crusade against evil. It is non-descript battle, seeing that it is to prevent the downfall of all humanity…

There are a handful of clever and creative ideas in this movie. But mostly it is a just a rehash of better movies on the same subject. Even Disney’s animated “The Sword and the Stone” covered much of this same ground. The bright spots are Angus Imrie playing Merlin, and when he gets swapped out occasionally for the older and wiser version – played by Patrick Stewart. Most of the child actors are pretty fun to watch, and they get the point across. The movie moves at an odd pace, with some sections dragged out for a quest going here and there in the English countryside. The internal logic of the movie is fuzzy, and there is one major scientific error that I cannot dismiss. There is supposed to be a solar eclipse in a few days, and right before that – the kids are out at night under a full moon. Ask your science teacher why that is wrong…

Joe Cornish has another movie under his belt where he wrote and directed (“Attack the Block”). That movie also starred mostly young kids, and he did a fantastic job with that one. He also wrote (or co-wrote) some great movies, “Adventures of Tin-Tin”, “Baby Driver”, and “Ant Man”. But he seems to have taken a few days of during this movie. “The Kid Who Would Be King” could be a very engaging movie, with a lot going for it. But the final results with this movie, it does not rise to the Throne. Cornish has pulled and pulled, but this time the sword stayed in the stone…

Destroyer Movie Review

January 18, 2019 (updated January 17, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Destroyer” is a wild fever dream of a long awaited time to avenge a wrong done to the main character. It involves a woman undercover detective in LA, sent into a deep-cover operation with a man who becomes her lover. There are circumstances that cause several deaths, and she suffers a tragic loss of her lover. He had become the father of a soon-to-be born child, and the agents’ life is turned upside down. There was a bank-robbery gang that she and the other agent were imbedded into. During an ill-conceived heist, there is hell to be paid. Even if that retribution needs to wait 17 years…

Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) is currently considered a joke in the LA police detective office. She is hard-drinking and impertinent. She does not work well with others. She has a daughter, and the girl is contently in trouble. She has an ex-husband Ethan (Scoot McNairy), but is now divorced – mostly because Erin Bell pushes way everyone in her life. She is a total hot mess and under duress. She knows and waits for only one thing. She craves to get back the person who had ruined her life 17 years ago.

Back 17 years, and Erin was teamed with Chris (Sebastian Stan) in an undercover operation to get in with a gang of outcasts. They are led by a strange but charismatic guy named Silas (Toby Kebbell). People in the gang were under control of Silas, to the point of playing Russian roulette for his amusement. He would plan bank robberies and other things to prove the loyalty of his crew. After many months, Erin Bell and Chris became full ingrained into the gang. They become lovers and Erin is pregnant. But there is a fateful day with a robbery gone very badly. Erin’s child will never meet her true father.

Erin Bell has survived her life since that day, and has not dreamed of anything but getting revenge. One day, she hears of some recent clues about the return of Silas to the scene in LA. There are some ex-gang members that she finds, and she finds DiFranco (Bradley Whitford). DiFranco is a successful lawyer who has side jobs from criminal clients. One of his contacts is Silas, and he has been laundering money from the old bank robberies. This leads Erin to Petra (Tatiana Maslany), one of the old members. She is getting new members to work for Silas to commit new robberies. Erin finds one in progress and becomes an on-the-spot security force. She first captures and gets more information from Petra, so that she can confront Silas for a final time.

Nicole Kidman has created a character that is so deep into her hatred and despair that she has ruined her life. Kidman put 100% into this role, and she looks so unlike any other character that Nicole Kidman has ever played – that you might gasp. Her life spirit has been drained, and she wants nothing but revenge. But she will not give up or quit, until she can undo the damage done by Silas. This is a role for which Kidman deserves to be recognized and awarded many honors.

Karyn Kusama has directed a very wonderful little film. It tracks back and forth in time, to show Erin Bell’s tragic story. It takes the typical ideas from detective stories and turns them slightly askew. It captures the struggle for a normal life by a character that is haunted by her past life. It takes a clear-eyed view of how an obsessive need for revenge can be a Destroyer of a person’s life.

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Second Act Movie Review

December 21, 2018 (updated December 20, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Second Act” is attempting to be some things that it is not. It is sold as a Romantic Comedy, just without the romance. It is supposed to be a positive feel-good story of a woman who can make it on her own merits. Yet her credentials are made up from whole cloth and are fake, phony and non-existent. There is an encouraging message on adoption, but the lead up to the reunification of mother and adopted out daughter seem contrived. But is does have Jennifer Lopez as the charismatic engine in this ‘Little Engine That Could”, so it is able to climb that hill and make it to the top. She brings all of her energy, and there is a cast of supporting characters that gives this movie a little zest.

Maya (Jennifer Lopez) is a 40-year old with a job in a big box retail store in Queens. She has been building up the local store for many years, yet she is passed up for a Manager position. She is feeling down, and her boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) attempts to cheer her up. But they have a major fight over getting married and having kids. She is not ready for that, so soon she is staying at her best friend and co-worker’s house. Joan (Leah Remini) has sympathy for Maya, but she gets her son to give Maya a professional Social Media makeover. Maya becomes Maria, who has graduated from Wharton Business School, served in the Peace Corp, and climb Kilimanjaro. Maya (as Maria) gets a very lucrative job offer from a Wall Street business that is into skin care products.

Maria (actually Maya) really impresses the owner and founder of the company, Anderson Clarke (Treat Williams). She has less of an impact on his daughter Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens). Maya BS’s her way into a corporate position and finds herself in a showdown with another group inside the company. There are two groups that will attempt to make a fully organic skin care product, and the other group will take an existing product and make it eco-friendlier. Maya has only a few folks with her side, including Hildy (Annaleigh Ashford). They face off against a group led by Ron (Freddie Stroma). Ron is running circles around Maya, and Hildy also dumps Maya to work instead with Ron. There are some social events for the company that end in disaster because Anderson believes that Maya has done all the things that are listed on the (fake) resume.

But a dark secret that Maya has from her past caused her breakup with Trey, because she could not bear to tell him the truth. That youthful mistake that created Maya’s hidden secret comes back to her in a big and substantial way. Maya develops a much closer relationship with Zoe because of this past incident. But Maya still attempts to keep up the fake facade that got her this new position and all the luxuries that come with it. But will her moments of dishonesty lead Maya to some unfortunate circumstances? Is her trouble with the past really over, or is it just now starting again?

“Second Act” is a big underachiever, in that it starts up with too many ideas that never get fully developed. The writing has some pretty funny lines, but the overall idea is dreadful. Don’t like your current job? Then make up all sorts of wild things about your professional past to make you look like a Real Pro. I’m sure you won’t get caught. Jennifer Lopez never did! But hand it to Lopez, because she takes the old rusty Chevy Chevette of a story and makes it purr like a Corvette.

There are a handful of really funny lines, most delivered by Leah Remini (as her best friend Joan). Vanessa Hudgens has a nice performance as person who has more in common with Maya than she knows. Milo Ventimiglia is seen a short time and retuns at the end, so not much is there for him. All the other actors are respectable, but nobody stands out.

Only because Jennifer Lopez stars in this movie, “Second Act” deserves a second look.

Aquaman Movie Review

December 21, 2018 (updated December 19, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Aquaman” is another in the DC Comics ‘Extended Universe’ of movie adaptations. But this one hits on some strong notes, as opposed to the other DCEU ones they have created. “Wonder Woman” was an exemption and a template for doing this right, and they have (mostly) followed along in a similar way. It is not dark and brooding like the recent DCEU movies were dark and (mostly) humorless. But with help from director James Wan, this new movie does not jump the shark – it uses the shark as a friggin’ undersea taxi service. If you don’t tip well enough, the driver might eat you…

Since every superhero needs a back story, Aquaman becomes a love child between a lighthouse keeper from Maine, and the Queen of Atlantis. Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), escapes to the Earth’s surface. She meets and falls in love with the keeper and they have a child. The little boy has unusual powers (being half-human and half-Atlantean). Atlanna is forced back to again be Queen of Atlantis, and there she and King have another boy child. Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is the half-breed, and his younger (fully Atlantean) brother is Orm (Patrick Wilson). Arthur is named after a king, because, well – you know…

Arthur is fine with staying on land, and getting some good things done – under the name ‘Aquaman’. He works to save a Russian sub from a band of pirates. But one of these bad guys is named David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and he blames Aquaman for his father’s death. Kane is working secretly with Orm, to try and make the sea-people rise up and fight the land-people. Aquaman is staying out of this fight, until he gets visit from Mera (Amber Heard), an Atlantean princess and warrior. She knows that something bad is going to happen, and she is soon to be married to Orm, Aquaman’s half-brother. Awkward!

Mera’a father is King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren), an ally of Orm. As a child Arthur was being trained by Vulko (Willem Dafoe). Vulko and Mera both convince Aquaman that he the only one with the special powers to challenge his brother Orm. Aquaman is brought to Atlantis and there is a challenge to the death. It is between him and his brother Orm, and he must fight in the “Ring of Fire”. But Johnny Cash does not show up to save him. Mera helps to get him out so they both can go on a world-wide quest to find the lost Trident of the First Atlantean King. They go to sandy African deserts and scenic islands off of Sicily. David Kane (I’m sure you all remember him) shows up with some modified Atlantean technology and calls himself Black Manta.

Aquaman fights Black Manta and throws him off a cliff, where he surely dies (unless they want another villain for ‘Aquaman 2’). Aquaman and Mera escape and they know the location of the special Trident. It is hidden in a dreadful placed called ‘The Trench”. It is where Aquaman’s Queen mother was brought years ago and sentenced to die (for treason, after the King found out about the ‘Arthur Curry incident’)

But you still need to strap in at this point, because you have much more to see. There is much more in the story, including scary ugly monsters that look like sea monkeys on steroids. There is a Lost Kingdom with secret hiding places for a special Trident. There is Arthur who pulls the Sword Excalibur from the stone… No – I mean, Aquaman who takes the Golden Trident from the guardian hands of the dead King.

There is a major underwater battle that is brewing when Orm and his minions decide to destroy any resistance in the other Kingoms, and then take the fight to the land-dwellers. Only the One True King would be able to prevent Orm from taking over and proclaiming himself and the Ocean Master. Can’t have that now, can we?

Other than a slightly too-long run time, this movie is a fine example of a fun and adventure-filled comic book turned into the visual treat. A lot of the visual effects are like cotton candy for the eyes. The actors cast in the movie do a credible job at making a fantastic display of an interesting world come to life. The sub-plot with David Kane and the Black Manta could have been cut and it would be perfectly fine. There are shades of the classical saga stories in the plot and the final battles are epic.

Wan directs this comic book classic with zeal, and Jason Momoa takes the lead role and makes it his own. An adventure story with lot of spectacle and a lot of humor. Definitely ‘see’ worthy!

Bumblebee Movie Review

December 21, 2018 (updated December 19, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Face the facts. Since 2007, Michael Bay has delivered “Transformers” movies that have assaulted the audience. Each movie being bigger and louder and dumber and more visually CGI-infected than the prior version, it was like an evil Decepticon plot to torture humanity. But the Torture-bots have been defeated. The newest “Transformers” movie is like a breath of fresh, clean air from back in 1987. “Bumblebee” is a movie that gives the viewers plenty of robot action, but it transforms into a human-centric exploration of a young kid who finds a close buddy. Of course, the buddy is a 12-foot yellow robot that turns into a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. Sort of like “The Iron Giant” with wiper blades.

In a faraway universe, Autobots fight against Decepticons on the planet Cybertron. Their leader, Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) sends a young B-127, later renamed Bumblebee (voiced by Dylan O’Brien), to Earth. The robot from space arrives on Earth, and a soldier named Jack Burns (John Cena) thinks he is an evil out to destroy the planet. Bumblebee escapes an evil Decepticon that followed him to Earth, but in a battle loses his voice box technology. He kills the Decepticon robot and saves Burns, but then Bumblebee malfunctions and turns into the last thing that he saw, a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. He winds up in a junkyard in a small California coastal town.

Also living there is Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), a young girl who is troubled by the sudden death of her father. Her family seems to be adapting and moving on with life, but Charlie broods and spends a lot of time working on her dad’s old car. She finds a cute yellow VW Bug in the junkyard. The owner gives Charlie the car on her 18th birthday, and she later finds it is actually Bumblebee. But he has lost his memory and can’t talk, so he cannot communicate with Charlie. She tries to keep Bumblebee a secret from her family, but it gets hard when he accidentally wrecks the house. Her next-door neighbor Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) has a crush on Charlie and he also finds out the big yellow secret. Bumblebee regains his memory and figures out that Optimus Prime has sent him here to Earth to protect the people and the planet.

But there are two Decepticon robots that come to Earth to search for Bumblebee. These two evil giant robots (voiced by Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux) meet up with Sector 7 Agent Jack Burns, and with a researcher named Dr. Powell (John Ortiz). Powell is misled by the Decepticon robots to believe Bumblebee is a rogue robot who must be captured and interrogated. Burns is not so sure, because the robots want to plug into the military satellite system to search for Bumblebee. This will lead to a big robot battle, and Charlie being put into danger. But Bumblebee has the smarts to defeat the evil robots, if he can get some help from Charlie. Burns and Memo are close to the action, but they are not front and center for the major battle.

“Bumblebee” does have a bunch of giant robot battles and clashes, but it also offers something different. There is bit of light sweetness and some human emotions that were usually missing from earlier ‘Transformer’ movies. The struggle is still there in the background, and it seems important. But there is an emphasis on how a young woman in California in the late 1980’s can rise above pain and sorrow and find a true friend. True, that friend happens to be an Autobot that can change from a VW Bug into a very large robot. But it still does something very special, as compared to the other movies. It does not make the audience feel dumb for watching it. It creates an interesting fantasy world and invites us into to explore with the characters.

Hailee Steinfeld does a very decent job in the role of a downcast young woman with a big yellow secret. John Cena adds some helpful light comedic lines where they are needed. Dylan O’Brien adds a tenderness to the voice of Bumblebee (until his voice box gets maimed). Peter Cullen (as usual) returns to voice the Autobots fearless leader, Optimus Prime. I wonder if he is related to Amazon Prime? Travis Knight has directed this with a sense of wonder and awe for the big metal monsters that turn out to be some of the good guys. The soundtrack has a spot-on selection of songs that you may remember from the 80’s, or just songs you can now hear on the Spotify ‘oldies’ playlist.

“Bumblebee” – This is the first Transformer movie that will get good ‘buzz’.

Blast from the Past (December 2018)

December 16, 2018 Published by JMcNaughton

December 2013 (5 years ago) — The Wolf of Wall Street

Leonardo DiCaprio shows that, as portraying cheater and con artist Jordon Belfort, Greed is definitely NOT Good…

Martin Scorsese directed Leo in this grimy and grubby look at a very grimy and grubby cheater, swindler and con artist. Making money on Wall Street was never this much fun. Jordon Belfort turned up the debauchery level to eleven, and the BS level to fifteen. But he made tons while it lasted…

December 2008 (10 years ago) — Valkyrie

Tom Cruise breaks out a German accent to play one of the main German conspirators involved in the unsuccessful plot to kill Hitler and stop the Nazi War Machine

Nazi Germany was under the iron grip of Hitler, and during World War II, a few of the military commanders thought of a way to take over. They would kill Hitler, and use a plan called ‘Valkyrie’ that would give control of the German Army and the government to some sensible people. That is, if it could work, and they could eliminate the dictator.

December 2003 (15 years ago) — The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Peter Jackon’s final movie in the trilogy to adapt the Tolkien Middle-Earth saga to play out on the big screen, only to receive bigger Box Office and bigger Awards

This was the final movie in a Trilogy created out of the huge JRR Tolkien saga. The audience was geared up for this chapter to come to the big screen. So much so that it earned over One Billion in box office revenue. It also was nominated, and WON, Oscars in eleven categories. That’s no fantasy…

December 1998 (20 years ago) — Patch Adams

Robin Williams takes on a role about a real-life doctor who wanted to treat the whole person, and not just a sick body – and he is the best things about a mediocre movie

Patch Adams is a real person who studied to be a doctor, but was shunned by his unorthodox ideas. The whole person needs to be treated, not just the disease that showing the symptoms. Robin Williams can play up the unorthodox methods that Adams used to make a screen character that seems sincere about an alternative approach to medicine.

December 1993 (25 years ago) — Tombstone

Very good old-time Western with Kurt Russell standing tall as Wyatt Earp, helped by his best friend and huckleberry – Val Kilmer (Doc Holiday)

Westerns are sometime though of as second-rate fare. But this movie was more like a prize pony at the fair. The portrayals of actual Western characters from history made for an entertaining movie. A somewhat accurate retelling of the events at OK Corral gives the basic structure for some fine performances. Russell, Kilmer, along with Sam Elliott and even Charlton Heston make this one to watch again.

December 1988 (30 years ago) — Rain Man

Dustin Hoffman turns in an amazing performance as Raymond, who is the Rain Man to younger brother Tom Cruise

Oscar winning in four categories, including for Hoffman and for Best Picture, this movie is an iconic touchstone in movie history. Countless movies have taken memorable visual scenes from Rain Man. Think of a scene of two people, dressed sharply, riding to the top of an elevator – slowly coming into view (from a bunch of movies), and think back – where did they get that inspiration?

Author: JMcNaughton