JMcNaughton, Author at tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends 48

NETFLIX – Shimmer Lake Movie Review

July 23, 2017 Published by JMcNaughton

‘Shimmer Lake’ is a NETFLIX Original movie, and it shows that creativity is not limited to the big screen. This is now available for streaming right now, so you can check it out for yourself. This takes a tale of a bank robbery in a small Midwestern town and turns it upside-down.

More accurately, it tells the story in reverse. That is, the movie is told in backwards order. The first thing shown are the events of Friday, which is three days after the robbery. The following day that is portrayed is Thursday, and so on. This structure does have a very important reason, but you do not see that until the first day. That first day is the day of the robbery, and it is the last day that is shown in the movie.

The events surround Sherriff Zeke Sikes (Benjamin Walker) who is caught up in the chase for the bad guys. One of the three turns out to be his brother Andy Sikes (Rainn Wilson). The local bank is owned by Judge Dawkins (John Michael Higgins), who had large amounts of cash on hand for the annual crop payments. The other thief is Chris Morrow (Mark Rendall). However the leader is Ed Burton (Wyatt Russell), a local meth dealer just released from prison.

Because the bank was federally insured, there are two bumbling FBI agents in town to ‘help out’. Agent Biltmore (Rob Corddry) and Agent Walker (Ron Livingston) don’t mind if Sherriff Zeke does all the work and solves the case, because they are pretty lazy. One of the main leads is Ed Burton’s wife, Steph Burton (Stephanie Sigman). She says that Ed said he was going to flee the country, so he beat her up and left. Steph is still upset with Ed because of what he did way before…

Ed’s time in prison was a result of an accident at his meth lab near Shimmer Lake. He and Chris Morrow were cooking the product. Ed Jr. was also there, because Ed had no other place to put him. An accidental explosion blew up the cabin. Ed Burton Jr. was only five years old when he died. Steph has never forgiven Ed.

Judge Dawkins was the one who gave Ed Burton an extremely light sentence. And Sherriff Zeke’s brother Andy Sikes was the chief Prosecutor who approved the unusual plea deal. There are a lot of shady characters and plenty of blame to go around. Since it is such a small town, the people there are keeping secrets.

When some of the secrets get revealed, there is a price to be paid by the people involved. Since the story gets told in reverse, the most shocking reveal happens on the first day. But you do not have that full impact until the very end of the movie. And that is a smart way to deliver some important facts…

You can say that the ‘backward story’ thing is a gimmick. However, the way that Oren Uziel tells the story, and way the facts are slowly revealed; it makes this the only way that it could have been done correctly. There are a lot of minor clues and little reveals that make you sit and ponder. The overall concept of working backwards in the calendar makes a lot of sense.

Quite a few of the actors are known mostly for comedy roles. But they do a fine job with this interesting and well-paced drama/mystery. Benjamin Walker comes off a little flat as Zeke. But that is how his character needs to be at the moment, not emotional but focused on the facts of the crime. Wyatt Russell, Rainn Wilson and John Michael Higgins do the tense drama very well. Ron Livingston & Rob Corddry do most of the comedy relief.

Perhaps this movie is in the shadow of ‘Memento’, another famous backward-sequenced film. Also, like that film, ‘Shimmer Lake’ is about a crime and the search to find the bad guys and see that justice is done. Then at the very end of the movie, you get some important information that changes everything. I guess you call it a ‘twist beginning’.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Movie Review

July 21, 2017 (updated July 20, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Luc Besson has a history of involvement in many action-packed fun movies. His movies are more concerned with moving the plot along than just pure logic. When he creates a new world, such as in “The Fifth Element”, it can be impressive and very detailed. When he has a strong emotional tie to the material, he treats it with great care. That is what is happening with “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”. He wanted to bring the graphic novel source material to life.

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” makes a quick update on the state of human space exploration. In the first few minutes, it visually shows that an International Space Station is welcoming humans of every race up on board to make a new home. Soon there are non-human species that also arrive, so the station gets bigger and bigger. It soon has to be moved out to its own little corner of the galaxy, now that it is home to hundreds of species and tens of thousands of beings.

This place is called ‘Alpha’ and it ruled by large council. There is a Defense Minister (Herbie Hancock) and a leading General Filitt (Clive Owen). There are two Federal agents working to keep the peace in space. Major Valerian (Dane DeHaan) is ready to defend the Federation laws in space. There he is joined by Sergeant Laureline (Cara Delevingne). They are about to go on a super-secret mission, but Valerian has just had the oddest dream. He was captivated with a vision of a planet called Mül. This perfect world is destroyed by sinister outside forces, and the dying princess of the Mül people cried out to Valerian.

But first the mission needs to happen, so they meet a military team on a distant planet. Valerian and Laureline are disguised as tourists in a freakish bazaar. This multi-dimensional place has lots of gaudy visitors and gift stalls. There are also pirates selling stolen one-of-a-kind items. Items like the “converter” which is the same small armadillo-like creature from Mül. This is the last of its kind, and someone wants it bad. But Valerian gets into the deal and takes the “converter” before the aliens can buy it for the big ugly beast pirate (voiced by John Goodman). Valerian and Laureline get away, but the danger is just beginning.

But in Alpha, there is a growing danger in the planet-size spaceship-conglomerate. There is an area near the core that has become a dead zone. It is radioactive, and nothing that comes in will ever come back out. If it is not stopped, it could take over everything. General Filitt is now being guarded by Valerian and Laureline. The “converter” creature is being held by Laureline. Mystery beings break into the council chambers and kidnap General Filitt. Valerian gives chase and goes into the dead zone, so they lose contact. Laureline goes to try and find him. She finds Valerian, but soon Laureline gets kidnapped by some ugly monster type creatures.

Valerian finds a place called “Paradise Alley”. He meets Jolly the Pimp (Ethan Hawke) who sets him up with a shapeshifting entertainer named Bubble (Rihanna). Bubble agrees to help Valerian find Laureline and get her out. Laureline is being dressed up to attend a fine dinner for the monster king, and is not pleased when she becomes part of the menu. Valerian and Bubble arrive to help her escape. Valerian and Laureline go on to find General Filitt and the mystery creatures that have been making a home in the dead zone.

The visuals created in “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” are breath-taking. The various worlds created are amazing and the creatures are fantastic. The ease in which it goes from current time to many centuries into the future is interesting. But then the story gets wrapped up in the job that Valerian and Laureline must do, and it totally bogs down. Any sense of wonder and awe gets disrupted.

The direction is very broad and enveloping, because Luc Besson is caught creating these new worlds. But then the people who fill these worlds start to fail him. Dane DeHaan starts out in smart-alec mode, doing a Keanu Reeves voice over. Cara Delevingne has little personality to make her the smarter and more likable of the two. There is no chemistry between them, and the jokey quips feel too forced.

Clive Owen is a non-impressive bad guy. Ethan Hawke has little more than a cameo. Rihanna is good edition and her story has some pizzazz. Herbie Hancock is an odd choice, but does little more than appear as a concerned face on a screen. John Goodman has few lines in voiceover for a big ugly beast.

The 3D effects are helpful to bring more life to the great production design, but it gets wasted a lot during the long stretches in dark and dreary places. The story and the acting cannot come close to the efforts put into the visual aspects.

Overall, this is fine movie to see if you are a big Luc Besson fan, especially if you liked “The Fifth Element”. If you like a good well-visualized alien world, then go see this. It is a fun little summer popcorn flick, but don’t work your brain too hard by trying to make any sense out of it.

War for the Planet of the Apes Movie Review

July 14, 2017 (updated July 17, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

When the ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise restarted in 2011, the focus was on how the apes got started and how humans lost control of the planet. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” focused on Caesar (Andy Serkis) who become a genetically-enhanced ape. Then in 2014, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” moved forward with a large group of very intelligent apes fighting off the remaining humans, who had been killed off by a world-wide simian flu. The next movie is “War for the Planet of the Apes” and it brings the human/ape conflict to breaking point.

In this movie, the apes are gaining much more control. But there is a breakaway Army group that has a blood-lust for killing every last ape. Caesar is still in control, and the splinter military group is led by The Colonel (Woody Harrelson), a sadistic monkey-killing machine. The Army group invades the apes’ nesting area, and Caesar’s wife is killed. He goes to seek revenge on The Colonel with his friends Maurice (Karin Konoval) and Rocket (Terry Notary). They meet up with an orphaned human girl, and decide she can come with. They call her Nova (Amiah Miller).

On the way they meet an escaped monkey from a zoo, who calls himself ‘Bad Ape’ (Steve Zahn). Bad Ape knows that The Colonel has camped in an abandoned weapons depot. The military has captured all the apes from Caesar’s village and are holding them as prisoners. Caesar is caught also, and he meets The Colonel who explains his plans. All the apes are used as forced labor to rebuild a defensive wall around the depot to protect the soldiers. Caesar correctly guesses that the wall is not being built to keep out the apes. The Colonel is building the wall to keep out the actual military, which are after The Colonel and his extremist ideas – and his radical followers.

The tiny group of apes outside the compound finds a way to get into the compound. Soon they are breaking out all the imprisoned apes, and even Caesar is let free, but first he must confront The Colonel one last time. He regular Army attacks, and all hell breaks loose. The apes have beaten the humans, and it may not be the last time…

This movie is the exciting conclusion of the rebooted ‘Planet of the Apes’ trilogy. The story is sleek and streamlined, with many references to other movies. There is a little bit of “Apocalypse Now”, “The Great Escape” and “Stalag 17”, along with shades of the Moses story from the Bible. Even with diverse sources, the movie ties it all together with a single sang. The motion-capture work done by the actors to play the apes is incredible. Andy Serkis would be an Oscar winner if they would give them out for “Best Performance as a Different Species”. Woody Harrelson is perfect playing a bat-crazy loon that happens to control a large cache of Army weapons. Steve Zahn does a great job being a bit of humor relief in a tense and serious movie.

The direction is direct and to-the-point, and gets you into the story with no problem. The cinematography is beautiful in the wide-open shots, and it can be frantic and driven in the battle scenes. The movie score is quite good and does not overload the action on screen. But the way the actors can make a fictional ape come alive with all the feelings and emotions, well — that is worth even a second viewing.

The original plan was to make these three movies for the ‘Planet of the Apes’ reboot project. But seeing how much better each movie has become, and how polished the story is progressing – it would not be a surprise to hear of a new effort in a short while. So if you are interested to see if the third picture is a series can be any good, then see this. There are no little yellow minions and no little cartoon cars. There is only a great story with an amazing amount of acting that is CGI-enhanced.

Spider-Man: Homecoming Movie Review

July 7, 2017 (updated July 7, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Live-action Spider-Man films have been around since 2002. The first set of movies starred Toby Maguire, and then later Andrew Garfield. But what did these five movies lack? They were not created with the involvement of Marvel Studios, as part of their ‘Cinematic Universe’. These other ones also did not have Tom Holland in the role of Peter Parker. Now things are getting better and better…

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” starts with a direct nod to “The Avengers” (2012), with the aftermath of the fight over New York City against the alien race of Chitauri. The clean-up crew is led by Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), and when he is pushed out of the job by the government, he takes much of the alien technology. Eight years later, he and his crew have an underground network of alien-based weapons sold to the highest bidder. Toomes has created a flight suit and calls himself the Vulture.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is in high school, and with no specific back story, he is an amateur crime-fighter called Spider-Man. He is noticed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and he joins Stark on a mission in Germany. For details on that, see “Captain America: Civil War” (2016). Stark gives Peter a Spider-Suit upgrade. It is very high-tech, but it is limited by the “Training Wheels Protocol”. Peter keeps his secret identity hidden from his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). But by accident, his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) finds out.

Peter and Ned attend a science-based high school in New York, and they are part of the Academic Decathlon team. Also on the team are Liz (Laura Harrier) and Michelle (Zendaya). Peter attempts to live as a secret superhero while also navigating high school. Peter wants so much to be part of the Avengers. He calls and reports in daily to Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), so that Happy will report this to his boss Tony Stark. Peter decides to live a little dangerously, and he and Ned disable the “Training Wheels”.

Perter Parker as Spider-Man has a couple of run-ins with thugs that have the Toomes alien-tech weapons. He even has a run-in with Toomes (as the Vulture). He tries to get the attention of Tony Stark, and he wants to let him know that bad things are afoot. There are some pretty decent fight scenes in a New York bank, and then at the Washington Monument. Spider-Man has a number of high-tech tricks up his sleeve, even when he meets up with the Vulture on the Staten Island ferry. However, things get out of hand. Iron Man has to come to the rescue, and Peter Parker gets demoted.

But later, when he gets a date with Liz to the school Homecoming dance, he finds that the danger has only begun. Peter Parker will need his strength and his will to beat the Vulture in a final fight. Little does he know that his school life and his secret Spider-Man life are about to cross paths. The events that lead up to this are a bit of a surprise, so you can find out when you see what happens…

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is a welcome change to the Spider-Man movies, and now that it folds into Marvel’s Universe, that makes it even better. The addition of Tom Holland as Peter Parker is terrific. He is much more in line with what a high school nerd kid should look like. Just because he has super Spider-Strength and Spidey-Senses, he still is awkward asking a girl out to a dance. Or even worse, learning to slow dance with his Aunt May…

All the casting is brilliant, especially Michael Keaton as the Vulture. The Toomes character does not get much in the way of development, but Keaton is great with a sarcastic line or a flinty, squinty sneer. All the high school related characters are fine, and the criminal gang of Toomes is also pretty good. Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau are again doing the roles that they do so well. Marisa Tomei does not have a lot of time in the movie, but she still makes an impression…

Overall, because there were six writers, I guess that some ideas did not have time to get fleshed out. Adrian Toomes goes from a blue-collar worker to an underground super criminal in a matter of minutes. Peter Parker’s experience with the radioactive spider is glossed over, so you can watch other movies to get into his back-story. Because Peter is a high school kid, he does not have a car, so getting around is more difficult. But he does make it to where he needs to go.

However, the overall attitude of the movie is refreshing and self-referential. It is almost like a PG-13 version of “Deadpool”. It has a humorous side, but it also gets into a father-figure situation between Peter Parker and Tony Stark. Plus there are some nice little cameo performances every once in a while: Chris Evans as ‘Steve Rogers: School Fitness Adviser’ on the school TV. Also, there is cute segment with Gwyneth Paltrow again playing Pepper Potts, helping Tony Stark announce the latest Avenger.

It’s enough to make your Spidey-Senses tingle…

Transformers: The Last Knight Movie Review

June 20, 2017 (updated June 20, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Bayhem: defined as the non-stop assault of wild images and loud sounds that come at you from a movie directed by Michael Bay. That is what is expected from his movies, and “Transformers: The Last Knight” will not disappoint the Bay fans out there. It is a long, non-stop and nonsensical action meat grinder of a movie. Are there giant robots – yes of course. Are there gaping plot holes – yes of course. Are there spectacular scenes of motion and movement – yes of course. Will Bay fans eat it up – yes, without a doubt.

To sum up: Autobots are good guy robots that transform into various vehicles. Decepticons are the bad guy robots that fight the Autobots, and they also transform. Autobots are led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) who always pledges support to the humans. The robots go all the way back into history, back to the days of King Arthur. The last living descendant of Arthur, along with the “Last Knight” are needed to fend off an attack on Earth from the crazy robot who has taken over the robot planet and is going to smash it into the Earth. Or something like that…

Actually, there is a very broad outline of what goes on in this movie. There might be an overall plot line, but it is obscured by all the action set pieces. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is a friend of Optimus Prime and is hiding a group of Autobots in a junkyard in the dessert. Viviane Wembly (Isabela Moner) is a Professor at Oxford in England, and she is the final one related to Arthur. Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) is an English earl with a vast knowledge of the Transformers history and why they are always coming back and mucking around on Earth. William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) is a military guy who is sometimes helping Cade and most times chasing after him. Due a set of some unclear circumstances, they all get together to work with the Autobots and save the world.

The action scenes are fantastic, yet the excessive editing cuts made them all look very choppy. The visual special effects are overwhelming and overbearing. They are done professionally and look terrific, yet the images are just thrown at you for more than two hours. It can just wear you down. The audio sound effects are growling and grinding and full of a lot of noise. There is a bombastic score playing under everything else, which increases the sound level. It is impressive and disturbing at the same time, like not being able to turn away from a bad car crash.

The story meanders from the US to England, where Sir Burton has brought Cade and Viviane together. There is some special staff that used to belong to Merlin, but it was given to him by an ancient Autobot. Viviane is the only one who control the staff, since she is the last of Arthur’s line. Cade had been given a special talisman that identifies him as “The Last Knight”. So, the major money of this movie went to the visual effects and not the script. However, there are a handful of performances that are OK. The plot is secondary to the stunning special effects, so call it a wash.

Mark Wahlberg is always a great action figure, even if the movie bumps into crazy dialog that could come from “The Happening”. He plays the earnest and trustworthy guy who can fight off anyone with his brains and brawn. Isabela Moner does a fair job in her role, nothing too special, but plays it with no problems. Anthony Hopkins does a delightful job as the slightly befuddled old guy who has a glint in his eye and tells you he knows more than he says. Just hope that he does not consider you a “friend that he would like to have for dinner”.

Granted, if Michael Bay is your thing and you have a deep appreciation for all things ‘Transformer’, then by all means, this is the movie for you. However, everyone else still need to determine how much of an action-packed blast in the face you can stand. If you have extra bucks, you can even see the “No Reason to be 3-D” version. It has 3-D on top of the already crowded screen of visual ADHD fever dreams. There are few scenes that use the 3-D to a good effect, but it sails through the film just fine without it.

More than likely “Transformers: The Last Knight” will make a ton of money, either here or abroad. Can it be too much to ask that Bay finally give up ‘his’ franchise? Or will he get enough incentive to come up with a sixth movie… “Transformers: The Ring of the Register”?

Rough Night Movie Review

June 16, 2017 (updated June 16, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

“Rough Night” has a lot of promise, being a new original movie scripted and directed by a woman. It takes some cues from other raunchy R-rated movies, such as “The Hangover”, “Weekend at Bernie’s”, and “Very Bad Things”. However, the “Rough Night” turns out to be a ‘Rough Viewing”. There is a basic setup that could go on a beautiful honeymoon, but it fails to take its vows.

Five dorm buddies from 10 years ago now find themselves invited to a bachelorette party weekend in Miami. Jess (Scarlett Johansson) is finally getting married to her long-term boyfriend Peter (Paul W. Downs). Jess is running for state senate, but she needs some down time. Her best friend is Alice (Jillian Bell) and she is planning a crazy time. Also invited are Frankie (Ilana Glazer) and Blair (Zoë Kravitz).

When they are in Miami, they find that Jess also invited her friend from her Study Abroad trip to Australia. Pippa (Kate McKinnon) is new to all the other girls and there is some friction at first. But they do all do cocaine, drink a lot and dance at the clubs. When they get back, they stay at house that a donor has let Jess use for the weekend. Frankie calls up and gets a private male stripper.

Soon a man arrives, and he attempts to seduce Jess. Jess turns him down, but Alice gets a little too wild. The guy bangs his head and bleeds out onto the floor. All of the women start to freak out, but they decide to dispose of the body. They are at a beach house, and Pippa takes a Ski Jet out to dump the poor guy in the deep briny. But they are discovered by the creepy sex-pervert couple next door. Blair needs to keep them, ahem, distracted.

Soon another guy arrives in a police outfit. They knock him out and find out he is the stripper. But then who is the dead guy? Meanwhile, Peter thinks that Jess in trouble, and he has no other option than to do the “Sad Astronaut”. That means driving straight from D.C. to Miami with no stops, wearing a diaper and drinking Red Bulls.

Then the situation gets resolved, but it really has taken a turn for the worse. The women are hysterical, crude and morally indefensible. They keep adding worse choices on top the bad ones they have already made. The scenes all seem forced and not very pleasing to watch. There are some talented actresses in the movie, but none of them are making too much of an effort. Scarlett Johansson appears to be biding her time until they make a solo “Black Widow” movie.

The most awful is Kate McKinnon, who is most annoying with the fake Australian accent. It is like the movie part was written for an actual Australian (perhaps Rebel Wilson), but instead McKinnon came up and decided to do the part. Her character just removes any hint actual comedy or true drama that could have been there.

The movie could have been a hot ticket with the female audience and having a female director. But all of that gets wasted on the plot that just plods along without any pulse. The parts when Paul W. Downs is on screen are little be more fun, because his character is such a doofus with such a big crush on Jess.

There is so much promise and way to little to be enthused about. However, if you see this movie, do wait until the very final shot at the end of the credits. It brings back a missing item (or two) from earlier in the movie. It’s like finding ‘a girl’s best friend’…

47 Meters Down Movie Review

June 16, 2017 (updated June 16, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Perhaps quite a few people are uneasy about being in enclosed places, and then just as many are queasy about getting close to sharks. If that is you, well — get ready for “47 Meters Down”, because your personal spooked-out meter will be peaking in the red zone. This movie will take many of the scariest things you can imagine and blend them into a nice smooth frightening shake.

Two sisters are in Mexico for a summer trip. Kate (Claire Holt) and Lisa (Mandy Moore) are getting away on a vacation. Lisa tells her sister it is because her long-term boyfriend broke up with her. He thought that Lisa was too boring. Lisa and Kate meet a couple of local guys, and they hit it off. They convince Kate to go on an underwater scuba trip to see the sharks. Lisa is much more sensible and does not want to go. Kate tells her that if she goes on the tip, she will prove she is not boring.

They meet Captain Taylor (Matthew Modine) who owns the worn-out old boat and the crappy-looking equipment for a shark dive. They don the scuba gear and get in the cage and start to descend down around 20 feet. They have only limited oxygen in their tanks, and they have limited experience underwater. But that is about to change. The cable holding the shark cage snaps, sending them down to 47 meters below the surface.

Both Kate and Lisa know that they cannot swim straight up to the surface. Once they go up, every 20 meters or so they would need to stop and let their blood handle the nitrogen bubbles, or they could die from the bends. They have no communication with the boat on the surface. So they take turns to try things out. One will swim up to try and get radio contact, then the other will trace down a mysterious flashlight brought down with a different cable hook. If they get it attached, they can be gently pulled up to the boat.

But, yes there are sharks in these here waters. So every attempt to get free or get back up to the boat is met with a potential big toothy grin. The guy who brought down the flashlight and the new cable was attacked and killed. Either Kate or Lisa could be next. The new cable turns out to be as useless as the first cable, and now they are trapped again. The Coast Guard has been called for a rescue, but they are an hour away.

Lisa and Kate almost run out of oxygen, and they two new tanks are sent down. But the new tanks can keep them alive. However, being down for so long can bring on nitrogen poisoning. This could lead to hallucinations and feelings of a dream-like state. They will both need to keep an eye on each over to make sure the other one does not get crazy ideas. After all, there is a rescue operation just about to begin…

To say anything more would deprive you of getting your feet wet and seeing this movie. The story is pretty straight-forward. Put two nice ladies in peril, and spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out how to get them freed. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt do a decent job, but much of the dialog is scuba breathing and screaming. They prove to be intelligent characters, except for the fact that they got on such a dumpy boat to begin with.

The setup gets going really quickly, and the part underwater is intense and spooky. Each of the sisters does her best to comfort the other one. But it is hard to find any comfort when you are more than 150 feet below the surface. Since this movie is so tense and spooky, I will need to lighten it up…

Once I threw out all the chopped up fish and fish guts into the water, the sharks got real chummy.

Cars 3 Movie review

June 16, 2017 (updated June 15, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

After a pretty successful spin in “Cars”, Pixar went and made “Cars 2”, but it went right off the track. So, Pixel has made a third outing with the NASCAR-influenced “Cars 3”. This is the first third attempt at a series from Pixar since “Toy Story 3”. That one was critically acclaimed and much beloved by the general audiences around the world. Will “Cars 3” get the green flag and maintain a high-octane level of excitement? Or will it sputter off to the junkyard? Let’s kick the tires and find out.

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a famous racing car in the alternate world of vehicles only (and no people). He has run and usually won every major race, including the grand prize – The Piston Cup. He has fond memories of his mentor, and old-school racer named ‘The Fantastic Hudson Hornet’ (voiced by the late Paul Newman). McQueen spends his time in Radiator Springs, with his pals from the first movie – including Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). But McQueen has his heart in racing and winning.

But then some new next-generation race cars come onto the scene. They are sleek and custom-designed to be better than the older cars. Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) is one of the new super-fast cars, and he wins while McQueen crashes and sits out the remaining season. But his sponsors have special news for McQueen. They have sold Rust-eze to a new owner named Sterling (Nathan Fillion). He has created a state-of-the-art facility to train new racers. McQueen goes there and meets Sterling and a peppy trainer named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo). McQueen is excited to start off with the training, but Cruz wants him to go slow.

Cruz and McQueen have different ideas about how to train. McQueen wants to get his tires dirty on the old-fashioned dirt tracks, just like Doc. Hudson taught him. Cruz wants to go high-tech, with lots of equipment. Sterling gives McQueen one chance to get another win, and then he will need to retire. McQueen wants his chance to beat Jackson Storm just one more time. So, he goes out to train in secret. He ends up in a demolition derby by mistake with Cruz. But they both learn some things about how to handle bad conditions. McQueen goes on a country-wide search to find Doc. Hudson’s old crew chief.

They find Smokey (Chris Cooper) and a bunch of Docs old pals in a worn-down speedway. But they still have some tracks and ideas for McQueen so he can compete in the next big race and beat Storm. Cruz and McQueen find out old secrets about the early days of racing and the origins of fast cars. They become good friends with Smokey and Docs old racing pals. But they all know that the upcoming race in Florida will take all that McQueen has got. And Cruz says that she would have been a racer, but when she had her one chance, she backed out and never even tried.

The Florida 500 will be the big race for Lightning McQueen. But will his practice and his skills be enough for a super-slick racer like Jackson Storm? Can the help of experienced crew, led by Smokey, help McQueen during each lap? There will be a lot of fans rooting for Lightning McQueen, rooting for his comeback and his success. Will McQueen find his greatest joy in winning another time? Or will he see a way that will make his future match the path of his own mentor – Doc. Hudson?

Pixar has gotten a lot of mileage (so to speak) from Cars. But in this movie, you can see that the quality that makes Pixar special. All the animation is gorgeous and sharp in every detail. All the characters are spot-on with the voice acting. There are family-friendly storylines and lessons throughout. There is a 3D version that makes the screen look like a place that you would want to visit.

From the original Cars characters, such as Lightning McQueen and Mater, and now including new characters – Cruz Ramirez and Smokey and others, this Pixar franchise still has some gas left in the tank. So give “Cars 3” a green light and ‘Cruz’ into a local theater to watch it.

The Mummy Movie Review

June 9, 2017 (updated June 8, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Universal Studios has long history of horror and fantasy movies from back in the day. It is time to revive those golden years with something they call the “Dark Universe”. Many of the creatures and monsters from the past will be remade, with the first one in the series called “The Mummy”. This will not be the same one as the 1999 version with Brendan Fraser. No sir, this will star Tom Cruise! But it will have the same big bad monster as the last time, however it will be a female version…

Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Sergeant Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are attached to an Army unit in a far off village in Iraq. Nick is helping to locate “precious antiquities” in the desert, and a bomb explosion has uncovered an ancient Egyptian tomb. Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) is searching for the same buried treasures, and she has a special pass from the London government to assist Nick and Chris Vail. However, what they find is soon to be discovered not as a burial site, but an Egyptian tomb/prison for a wicked Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella).

Ahmanet had become an evil power-hungry killer, who had murdered the Pharaoh and his family. Her punishment was to be entombed alive, as far away from Egypt as possible. But now her sarcophagus is being unearthed and flown to London. There is a secret group there that oversees finding all monsters and destroying them. It is led by Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe), however he has a bad tendency to turn into Mr. Hyde. Not the nicest chap on the block. The plane ride does not end well, with Chris Vail being possessed by ‘The Mummy’ (Ahmanet) and Nick shooting him dead. The plane is about to crash, and Nick saves Jenny, but he does not survive.

Until he does survive, without any explanation. But wait, Chris Vail is still there, and he is dead. But Nick can see him sometimes. The Mummy has broken out of her coffin, and attacks the guards at the plane crash site. She sucks the life from them, and they become her un-dead zombie slaves. There is a secretly stashed knife in an abbey nearby. It was smuggled out of Egypt by the Crusaders years ago. But there is a special crystal gem that gives the knife special powers. It was taken off the knife years ago, and now The Mummy needs it badly.

Jenny and Nick work together to help Dr. Jekyll finally capture The Mummy. Jekyll plans to kill and examine the remains of Princess Ahmanet, to find out how she become The Mummy. But Nick has a special bond with The Mummy, because she needs a new victim to kill in a ritual that will make him an Egyptian god. Oh, yeah, there’s lots going on, and the action goes on full tilt. But there is a confusing mish-mash of why most of this happening. Dead Chris Vail is still around on occasion, and he lightens up the mood. Nick is always overwhelmed when he tries to fight off The Mummy, the evil Mr. Hyde, and all the un-dead zombies chasing after him.

So this is pretty typical summer movie, with a bare plotline and tons of wild action. The major reintroduction of The Mummy, and Jekyll & Hyde as an aside, is real reason for the movie. This will become one of many based on the old creatures and monsters in the Universal Studio catalog. They want you to forget the 1999 version (with Brendan Fraser) and take this movie as the exciting start of something big. We will see how that goes. All the acting is OK, for a summer monster movie.

Tom Cruise runs and fights and gets along with his co-stars well. Annabelle Wallis does fine, but not memorable. Russell Crowe is low-key as Dr. Jekyll, and then turns into crazy-town when he becomes Mr. Hyde. Jake Johnson could have been used a lot more to lighten up the tone of the movie. Sofia Boutella is an attractive lady, but she has makeup and shrouding strands that bring her looks down quite a lot…

This creature feature can also be found playing in ‘No Reason to be 3-D’. 3-D does not show up well in dark and dimly-lit scenes, and there are plenty of them here. There are very few times in the movie where any 3-D stands out as a benefit to the scene. It just makes you put on dark glasses in a dark theater to watch a dark movie. It seems like more of a money grab then a way to make a more enjoyable product.

So, make room for sweet nostalgia in your new monster movies. Don’t look for well thought-out plots and dialog. Look for stunts and explosions and visual CGI. Don’t expect great character development, but get ready for lots of action in exotic places. Stay away from light-hearted comedy touches, get ready for serious ACTING!. This is not the 1999 “The Mummy”.

Tom Cruise, you’re no Brendan Fraser!

Wonder Woman Movie Review

June 2, 2017 (updated June 13, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

The latest entry in the DC Comics Extended Universe is “Wonder Woman”. DC has been playing catch up to Marvel in attempting to create a unified movie universe of all their superheroes. Not every example so far has been great, but that is about to change. Being the first major movie to feature a female superhero, “Wonder Woman” has a lot to prove. It proves that a woman can be just as super a hero as any man. Maybe even more, because when she dances, it’s in reverse and in high heels!

On an island hidden from the rest of the world live the Amazon women. They are a group of warriors who train and live apart from the world. They live with a command from Zeus himself to always protect and save humanity. There is another god, Aries, the god of War who would bring death and destruction on the Earth. The only little girl on the island is Diana, but she is no Disney princess. As she grows up, she trains and can fight with powers far above this world. The peaceful island world finally comes into the real world, when a World War I plane falls into the ocean. Diana (Gal Gadot) saves the stranded pilot named Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). He is the first man ever to be on the island.

The Amazons find out about World War I when Germans come to battle on the shoreline to capture Steve Trevor. The Queen and Diana learn of a ‘Great War’ and they know that Aries has returned to trouble mankind. Diana and Steve leave to reach London, so he can deliver secret papers stolen from the Germans. The Allied forces have nearly reached a peace pact with the Germans. But there is an evil German General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) who is willing to work with a disfigured Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya). Together they want to disrupt the peace process by killing off everyone in London.

Diana and Steve learn of these plans and they assemble a team to go to the front and find Ludendorff. They are helped by Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis), who is leading the London peace accords. They get some people together including Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui), a smooth-talking thief, Charlie (Ewen Bremner) an expert marksman, and the Chief (Eugene Brave Rock). Diana (known as Diana Prince) will lead the fight against the German plan to scuttle the Armistice. They all go to France to the front, and find themselves in the trenches along with the other soldiers. Diana becomes Wonder Woman with her wrist gauntlets, boots, shield and sword. She enters the no-man’s land between the trenches and leads a fight to defeat the German forces.

Diana is sure that the evil General is Aries in disguise, ready to create the War that will lead to the destruction of all mankind. Steve is not too sure, but he and the team will together try and prevent the poison gas from being dropped on London. There is great mayhem and battles going on at the very end. It appears that Wonder Woman might have found a fight that she cannot win. However, there is sacrifice and much effort from all parties involved to end the conflict and bring peace. But how does it end? Who will live on to fight another day, and who will fall on the field of battle? You will need to find out for yourself!

Director Patty Jenkins has put together a fantastic group to create an enjoyable movie. Unlike many of the DCEU movies so far, this is not overly dark and plodding. It does deal with terrible subject of war, but it brings a hopeful enthusiasm to the screen with Wonder Woman’s faith in humanity. The need for a super hero to save people can be done with a female fighter and leader. It is not limited to alien super-strong guys from another planet, or to a guy with cool toys and neat bat outfit. Diversity is a way to give everyone a chance for greatness.

Gal Gadot has taken this role and created a super cool hero that you can admire. She has hints of her greater powers, but she does not feel that she is more special than the other people on her team. Diana has true empathy for the victims of war, and she feels deep outrage when helpless people are put into danger. She seeks truth and a balance of force, but she knows that if she gets pushed to the limit, she will fight back and can win. She becomes Wonder Woman by being true to herself and by following the teachings of her Amazon tribe.

Chris Pine falls into his character with great ease. He finds a way to make Steve Trevor a real person who has a deep love for his country and a knack for finding trouble. His character works well with the ‘Diana Prince’ character in London, to teacher her about social norms, and about ice cream. Everyone else is very well cast and they do an excellent job. Even when Danny Huston and David Thewlis get close to chewing the scenery.

‘Wonder Woman” will make you forget about the TV version, and Gal Gadot will own that role forever. She takes it and makes it a new “Wonder” of the world. No doubt about it. This new “Wonder Woman” is quite a Gal!

Author: JMcNaughton