Power Rangers Movie Review

March 29, 2017 (updated April 24, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

During the mid 1990’s the children-based TV program was created based on Power Rangers. They were teenagers who were selected to receive special powers and colorful armor suits. They could fight off the evil forces in the universe, led by Zordon and his assistant, a robot named Alpha 5. The TV series spawned a few movies, and then it lay dormant, until now.

Zordon (Bryan Cranston) was almost defeated by Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), oh sometime back in the age of the dinosaurs. But when some special Power Rangers coins are found by high school students in Angel Grove, things start moving and getting serious.

Zordon and his robot helper Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) see that five students have discovered the Ranger coins, and they will be the ones to defeat Rita. Jason Scott / Red Ranger (Dacre Montgomery) is a football player who got into a little bit of trouble. Kimberly Hart / Pink Ranger (Naomi Scott) is a cheerleader was also is in trouble. Billy Cranston / Blue Ranger (RJ Cyler) is an autistic black guy with a good grasp of science. Trini Kwan / Yellow Ranger (Becky G) is a new kid at school, and outcast, who happens to be gay. Zack Taylor / Black Ranger (Ludi Lin) is an Asian dude who rarely goes to class because of a sick mother.

These five squabble and fight because they have no idea of what type of power the enemy has. The enemy is Rita Repulsa who quickly shows up in town and is ready to destroy it. Zordon and Aplpha 5 continue to train the new Power Rangers. They also have hidden away some mechanized fighting units called Zords. When the Ranges need these units, they will use them to fight and to defeat Rita and her henchmen of living rock monsters.

The town is getting destroyed until the Power Rangers find the strength to fight as a single team. Zordon makes a major sacrifice to ensure the team is together. They are finally motivated to fight together to defeat Rita and to save the Earth. The team find out that the key to the team is trusting each other and working together.

This version of the Power Rangers is a new reboot, and like so many others, might lead to several more movies. The audience is built-in, as the kids grown up from the 90’s are ready to watch the Power Rangers in action yet again. But it seems they did it right this time, with several very capable actors in the roles for the Ranges, and some top-notch talent to support them.

The main support is having Bryan Cranston on board, even though he does not do very much. His voice lends authority to the Zordon character. Bill Hader uses his finely-tuned comedy skills to do the Alpha 5 robot voice. But most of all Elizabeth Banks creates a major evil character playing Rita Repulsa. She plays it very over-the-top and looks like she is having a great time. She is ready to be a rotten, no-good, all-powerful presence.

All of the people playing the Rangers are good. With having a widely diverse cast, it shows that the movie is trying to be open for anyone and everyone. Having a character who is autistic and another who is gay is pretty daring move. It may not add a whole lot to the movie overall. But it does notice that people are like that in the world…

So, for a reboot of an existing franchise, this movie does everything that it needs to do. It makes a credible first opening act with the hint of more to be done later. The actors are decent for the roles, even when none of them look close to being the age for high school. The story line sticks to the basics, and it give the different Rangers a chance to tell a bit of a background story.

If you are up for a fun little time to see some action and some humor based on the 1990’s TV show, then Power up for the Power Rangers. It’s Morphin’ Time!

T2 Trainspotting Movie Review

March 24, 2017 (updated April 24, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Director Danny Boyle made the movie “Trainspotting” 20 years ago, and has gone on to make many superb movies. The original cast of the movie has also done well, especially Ewan McGregor. With a script that updated the original main characters after twenty years, Boyle is back with “T2 Trainspotting”. This new sequel has all the characters back for a new visit to the Scottish underclass, with an updated look at their lives.

“Trainspotting” introduced the heroin-addicted characters who made up the 1996 movie. There was Mark (Ewan McGregor) a de-facto leader of companions. “Spud” (Ewen Bremner) was along for a fun time, as was Simon (Jonny Lee Miller). The tough guy in the group was Begbie (Robert Carlyle) who was always in a fight. The last story ended with a bad drug deal where Mark took all the money. Spud knew and never let on, and Simon and Begbie wanted revenge. Begbie was the fall guy and was jailed.

“T2 Trainspotting” brings the group back into the present day, where Mark has been in Amsterdam for 20 years. After a medical scare, he comes back to Edinburgh – but he has other issues. His wife has kicked him out and the job he had is now gone. He has kicked the heroin habit and replaced it with exercise. Spud has never left heroin behind, and is about to end it all, but Mark saves him. Simon now runs a dumpy bar near the docks, but he cannot kick cocaine. Begbie finds a way to escape prison so he can raise more mayhem.

Simon is not pleased to see Mark return. Simon has a girlfriend named Veronika, who is planning to become a high-class Madame when Simon turns the bar into a brothel. The local crime boss has a say in that, so it never gets off the ground. Simon and Veronika instead go about trying to blackmail some locals in compromising positions.

Begbie tries to get back into the breaking and entering game, and he gets his son involved. When that does not work out too well, he goes to see Simon. Simon does not let on that Mark is back in town, but Begbie is still looking for revenge. Getting put back into prison would be enough for Begbie, as long as he can kill Mark.

Simon and Mark have a night out at a local pub, trying to grab some extra wallets. Mark and Begbie have a run-in where Mark is able to narrowly escape. Spud finds a new hobby in his quest to fight off addiction. But they all notice that the world around them has changed in the past 20 years, but they have stayed the same.

Danny Boyle burst onto the scene with “Trainspotting” all those years ago. He found some very talented actors, and he was able to bring them back for another go. Boyle’s style and camera flourishes are always on display, in many clever and noticeable ways. The acting is all-around terrific, because these actors have lived these lives before.

But the nagging feeling is that you cannot bottle lightning twice. Everything that was fresh and new and exciting in the first movie has a less of an edge here. The setup is not exactly the same of course, but the lovable loser group will always end up with the short end of the stick. Mark’s 20 year escape from the poverty and lowlife of Edinburgh might have made a better story just by itself.

“T2 Trainspotting” is a familiar ride for those who know the original film. And the returning cast and crew do their best to make the journey enjoyable. But when this train pulls into the station, you might feel that the return trip was a little rough going down the tracks…

The Last Word Movie Review

March 12, 2017 (updated March 12, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

When a person dies, there is usually a line, a paragraph or an entire page in the obituary section. It depends on how notable that person was, and how connected they were. Or perhaps, if you are the control-freak type, you hound the local newspaper obit writer and you make the final decisions about what should be in “The Last Word”.

The control-freak is Harriett (Shirley MacLaine) who is a former business leader in the small town. She is divorced with one adult child, whom she never sees. She has a snippy attitude towards everyone, because – obviously – they could never do as great a job as she can. She berates the gardener and harasses the cook. And one night she has too many sleeping pills with her bottle of red wine.

When she recovers, he doctor asks if it was actually just an accident. Of course, she replies, “I was very tired and I was very thirsty!”. But Harriett starts thinking that some day an obituary will be written for her. So, by God, while she still has the gumption, she will make sure it is written correctly!

The local paper has an obituary writer named Anne (Amanda Seyfried). Really, how many obituaries will they need in a week? Harriett uses her influence to have Anne ‘assigned’ to her full-time, so that Harriett can properly get “The Last Word” done to her liking. Anne objects to her boss, saying that Harriett puts the “bitch” in obituary…

Anne is stuck with Harriet, so she starts interviewing people from her past. Harriet turns out to be none too popular, even getting the thumbs down from her pastor. Anne wants to find out about Harriett’s family, her ex-husband Edward (Phillip Baker Hall) and her daughter Elizabeth (Anne Heche). But Harriet has more immediate needs.

Anne takes Harriett to a school for at-risk kids, so she can ‘connect with a disadvantaged child’. A young girl named Brenda (AnnJewel Lee Dixon) thinks Harriett is only there for court-ordered reasons. Brenda has foul attitude, and a mouth to match. She is as feisty as Harriett, so they wind up being a good match.

Harriett still has some tricks up her designer sleeves. She takes Brenda and Anne to a local radio station, one that actually uses live DJs. She impresses the station manager with her eclectic tastes that he actually does give Harriett a morning DJ slot. Anne is finding out her first impression of Harriett was incomplete, and she does have many more talents than anyone knew.
Harriett, along with Anne and Brenda, take a trip to visit Elizabeth. But she does not want to reconnect with her mother. Harriett goes to see her ex-husband Edward, and they realize that they could never live with each other, but they do miss each other. Harriett has a few snappy words when she first meets Edward…

Edward: As I live and breathe..
Harriett: Well, from what I see, you have not been too successful at either activity!

Harriett learns that sometimes people can be good to her, if she is good to them. Anne becomes like a substitute daughter. Anne finds a new purpose in her writing, and wants to make a substantial impact with her work. Brenda learns to believe in herself and knows that she can make a difference in the future.

The story does follow a typical formula and it has more than a few loose ends. The ending seems unlikely. Harriett is a local pariah one day, and then in the course of a few months, people would flock to her funeral and have nice things to say about her. The way that Brenda gets squeezed into the plot is a bit hokey.

Shirley MacLaine is the star of the show. She has a command of the screen and can look in to be in total control in any situation. Her role is pretty interesting, and she appears to have fun playing a grumpy old lady. Amanda Seyfried has a paper-thin character and can do nothing more that react to the Harriett character. She could use a little more depth in the role, but there is not much to offer.

Anne Heche and Phillip Baker Hall have little more than a cameo in the movie. They are good in the roles, but there is nothing that adds to the movie. AnnJewel Lee Dixon is a cute little hell-raiser, and does a great job. But you just want to wash out her mouth with soap afterwards…

“The Last Word” is a cute little movie that hints how great Shirley MacLaine could have been with a much better written role. This one will give you a few chuckles while you watch, and eventually you can rent it and watch it with your mother. She probably knows a few grumpy old ladies herself…

The Ottoman Lieutenant Movie Review

March 10, 2017 (updated March 10, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

At the onset of World War I, it was a dangerous time to be in Europe. Even more dangerous was to be in Turkey, and greater still was the border between Turkey and Russia. The Ottoman rulers of knew that war was coming. The people in the wrong place at the wrong time were American medical staff at a volunteer hospital in Turkey.

Lillie Rowe (Hera Hilmar) is a young woman training to be a nurse. She comes from a very wealthy family, and since her older bother died, she is listless. She hears a plea from a young idealist doctor named Jude (Josh Hartnett) who needs funds for the far-off hospital. Lillie is strong-willed, and takes her brother’s truck and fills it with medical supplies to be shipped to Istanbul.

Lillie cannot trust anyone else to deliver the supplies, so she takes it there herself. In Turkey, there are wild bandits out on the border. So she gets a Turkish military man, Lieutenant Ismail Vitaly (Michiel Huisman) to escort her to the hospital. They are attacked and lose everything, and they barely escape with their lives. They make it to the hospital in one piece.

The hospital founder is Dr. Woodruff (Ben Kingsley) who is an older disillusioned grumpy man. His advice is to leave and go home. Lillie stays to tend to the sick, and her nurse training finally pays off. But there is too much tension in the air. The Turks are fighting with the Armenians, and the Muslims do not trust the Christians. The Great War will be on their doorstep soon.

Lillie ignores the puppy-dog longing from Dr. Jude, and she instead has an inner longing for the Lieutenant. They are different religions, and they follow different customs and both come from cultures. But the love between them is too great. It is not forbidden, but is not at all encouraged. They sneak away when they can to take a sailboat out on lake. Or they ride their horses through the wild wheat fields. It is so romantic and poetic that nothing could come between them. Nothing except War, of course…

This movie wants to be an ‘Epic’. It does come close, but there are some issues. The storyline is not all that believable. A young woman alone in the hinterlands of Turkey just before the Big War would have a nightmare experience. Instead, you are shown that she is having a grand old time, with love just around every corner. The American flag above a remote hospital in a hostile area would draw bombs and machine gun attacks, not the praise of the local military.

Michiel Huisman does a believable job as the Ottoman, but Hera Hilmar is a weak leading lady. Her occasional voice-over work during the move is flat and monotone. There is not much of a spark between the two of them as ‘star-crossed’ lovers. Josh Hartnett does a reasonable job, but looks like John Denver with round wire-rimmed glasses. Ben Kingsley classes up the movie, but he does not have enough of a part to make it soar like it should.

So if you want a real Ottoman Lieutenant, then take a trusted military officer to a home furniture store to find the right piece. Then you can put your feet up on the ottoman and watch “Lawrence of Arabia’ or ‘Gone with the Wind’. Any true War Epic will do…

Logan Movie Review

March 3, 2017 (updated April 3, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

LOGAN MOVIE REVIEW BY JMCNAUGHTON

“Logan” proves out the old adage from the Bible: “Those who live by the adamantium blade will die by the adamantium blade”, or something like that. Logan being the X-Man called Wolverine who has been enhanced with the indestructible metal called adamantium; this movie shows the difficult end times of the former superhero. His strength and powers of regeneration are almost gone, and the years have not been kind.

In 2029, Logan (Hugh Jackman) is visibly aged. We is emotionally and mentally drained. All other ‘mutant’ being are thought to be long dead. But Logan is hiding a frail Prof. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who is up into his nineties. Xavier’s mind is fading and starting to fail, and at times he seizes up and sends telepathic waves that will cause a state of paralysis. One other mutant exists, called Caliban, who helps tend to the disabled Xavier.

Logan meets a woman who begs him to take a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) to North Dakota. Logan is driving a limo in El Paso to make money, but the woman offers a large amount to protect the child. There are evil forces from a government-run research industry. The security team headed by Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) finds and kills the woman, and then comes for Logan and the girl.

Soon there is a wild fight at Logan’s Mexico hideout, but he escapes with Xavier and Laura. The girl is shown to be a super-powered Wolverine Junior, with the retractable blades and such. Her fighting skills are as sharp as her weapons. Logan finds out that the research company was raising many children in Mexico and they were turning them into miniature weaponized mutants. Pierce and his crew of bounty hunters, called Reavers, will stop at nothing to get them all.

Before you can ‘road trip’, the group are heading across country to get to a special ‘safe place’ that Laura read about in the X-Men comic books. Logan is mortified that any of his past exploits were put into a comic book. Prof X has another seizure and it causes a lot of grief for everyone around them. They barely escape, and they are running low on medicine for Prof X. Pierce and the head of the research place named Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant) are closing in.

After stopping to help a farmer with some wild horses, Logan, Prof X and Laura are invited to take a break. But things do not work out well for anyone, and more death and mayhem occur. Logan and Laura get back out on the road to find the safe zone, where Laura hopes to find the other mutant offspring who escaped with her from the research facility. If she can make it there, they can all cross the border to Canada, eh!

But every time he fights and every bad guy killed by Logan keeps draining him of his powers to heal and rejuvenate. He is looking all the worse for wear, and the days have been rough. As Indiana Jones would say “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage”. Logan is feeling every little ache and pain that was inflicted on him for all those years/miles.

You may have heard that this is Hugh Jackman’s last performance as the Wolverine (or Logan). He has intended to make this final movie the most bad-ass swan song ever. He has made sure that the movie cuts to the core of Wolverine. It is brutal, violent and profane. The movie is rated R, and for very good reason. The language is very rough; the fighting is bloody and sometimes gory. It perfectly suits a character like Wolverine.

Jackman worked with director James Mangold to get everything just right. The theme resembles an old Western in which the heroes are being chased over the frontier hills and valleys. The tone of regret and despair falls over everyone. All the super powers are nearly gone, and days of a quick recovery turn into weeks of pain and agony. Will there be any redemption for Logan?

Hugh Jackman has taken this character over seventeen years of X-Men movies to this one as the final conclusion. His performance is distinct and precise, and evokes a great deal of inner pain and mental anguish. He plays it all to the letter, and does not hit any false notes. Patrick Stewart is also terrific as a mentally diminished Professor X. He is pained by the fact that is losing control of his mind. He lapses into a seizure and the world around him gets a taste of his telepathic skills gone very wrong.

Dafne Keen gives a masterful performance as a little girl who has been raised to be a brutal killing machine. She has a physical presence that can give you chills when you see her become angry. You know that something very, very bad is about to happen. But she can do that with her stance and the glare in her eyes. It is quite an impressive feat for this young actress. All the rest of cast are also well-cast in their roles, but main three are the ones that count.

Is this the end of X-Men, and the end of Wolverine? It is for Hugh Jackman, and he has done well by having a long phase of his career playing the super-hero. If you can stand the harsh language and the bloody violence, then you can see that Jackman has gone out on his own terms. He ends it with a brilliant performance surrounded by a talented cast.

Logan movie review by JMcNaughton

Get Out Movie Review

February 27, 2017 (updated February 27, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Jordan Peele is well known as a comedian and a funny guy, but now he gets to stretch out his inner Hitchcock with “Get Out”. This story is written and directed by Peele, and it is a far cry from his stand-up sketch routines.

The LEGO Batman Movie

February 10, 2017 (updated March 10, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you LEGOs, then make a full length animated comedy movie that centers on an iconic DC Comics superhero. Yes, make “The LEGO Batman Movie”. This will cause great delight in young children and comic book nerds everywhere.

Based as a spin-off from the 2014 animated hit “The LEGO Movie”, this follow-up features the adventures of Batman (Will Arnett) who serves as the dark knight and the protector of Gotham City. When the city is threatened by a massive horde of villains led by the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), Batman saves the day. The commissioner retires, and his daughter Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) takes over.

Batman is helped in his other identity as Bruce Wayne by his loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes). When Alfred tries to make Bruce/Batman be a little bit more caring and empathetic, he gets him to visit an orphanage. Bruce was once an orphan, too. Of course, being an orphan worth multi-millions is not the same as the ones that he visits.

Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) is an orphan who contacts Bruce and gets his OK to be adopted. Bruce was not paying attention when he said yes to Dick, but he decides that Batman needs a new partner. The Joker has been acting suspicious because he surrendered his whole crew to the new Commissioner Gordon. Joker does have some new tricks, but they involve getting even bigger baddies from a far-off prison.

Batman is obsessed with being a loner, a hero who does not need anyone for help. This new situation requires him to work with Dick, who now has a secret identity of Robin, and with Barbara Gordon, who creates a secret identity of Batgirl, and even butler Alfred, who, well, is still the butler, but he also dresses up in a costume. Batbutler?

The movie’s quick pacing of jokes and gags keeps you watching every part of the screen and listening to every word, and sometimes every background noise or musical cue. There are insider jokes about DC Comics, and pop culture reference that brings out laughs, snickers and guffaws. Even the basic first minutes of the movie, fading in from black, is done with a Batman voice-over that is totally on target. It is very funny and very true at the same time, and it will forever change how you see the very beginning of a movie.

Every voice actor in this movie is right up to speed with the comedy and pacing. But the best one is the self-centered, self-absorbed Batman, played by Will Arnett. His take on the Batman character in “The LEGO Movie” was outstanding. And here he takes it to even a greater place. It is enjoyable to hear him growl in his deep, self-important voice about how important Batman is to Gotham.

Ralph Fiennes has his usual great performance. Playing Alfred, he becomes a parental figure to Bruce Wayne/Batman, yet he is always ready to help out. Zach Galifianakis plays the Joker as a figure who needs to hate Batman as much as Batman needs to hate him. They both have a unique thing going on. Michael Cera is perfect as Grayson/Robin, all young and enthusiastic. And Rosario Dawson has a fun time playing Gordon/Batgirl, and she gives Batman a run for the money.

All in all, the movie could be called BAT-tastic. It is very well written in terms of jokes and comedy bits, and the story never lags. It will occasionally ramble here and there, but it stays on track. The visual scenes are chock-full of bright colors and incredible details, with many scenes a visual gag or a silent comedy bit. It is enjoyable to watch, and will all the small items that you want to catch, it would be just as fun on a second viewing.

Should you see this movie you will agree: it’s “The LEGO Batman” movie the World deserves, but also it is the one it needs right now!

Fifty Shades Darker

February 10, 2017 (updated February 10, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

In the beginning, there was the “Twilight” series of novels. And thus was begotten the “Twilight” movies, and verily so, there was created “Twilight” fan fiction. And thus is was that “Twilight” fan fiction hath created a series of “Fifty Shades” novels, and from that loin was born the “Fifty Shades” movie series. And some people say that fine literature and art is dead…

“Fifty Shades of Grey” brought you the plain little virgin of Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) who meets high-powered and filthy rich Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Their relationship was a bit troubled, to say the least. Grey is into sadistic bondage and domination, and he needed Steele as a willing partner, a submissive. But there was stupid contract negotiations getting in the way of the soft-core booty calls. Steele got disgusted and left Grey, so now on to “Fifty Shades Darker”.

Steele has a job at a place called Seattle Independent Press, where she works for Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson). Grey promptly buys up the SIP, with no thought of irony in the name. In fact, Grey spends so much time pursuing and attempting to win back Steele, it is amazing that his company can run at all. Jack Hyde and Grey do not see eye-to-eye, even though they both treat Steele basically like garbage. Jack makes an aggressive pass on Steele, and he soon is looking for a job.

Steele and Grey get back together, but she thinks that it must be at a mutual, common level – out of respect and love. Grey has been weird for so long that this might be difficult for him, so he gets Steele to draw lines on his chest with lipstick. What? Oh, yeah, he still has problems. There is a prior ‘sub’ from Grey’s past named Leila (Bella Heathcote). She was once submissive to Grey, but she left. But now she is unhinged and gunning for Steele.

Grace (Marcia Gay Harden) is Grey’s adoptive mother, and she feels that Steele has made a positive change. Elena (Kim Basinger) is Grey’s very early lover and got him into the freaky stuff. But now she owns a salon and they are business partners. Damn good thing that Grey Conglomerated United Holdings, Ltd can just about run itself! Grey is the wealthiest man who never seems to do any work.

So Steele moves in, and Grey and Steele get several kinky booty calls. Grey says he has changed and asks Steele to marry him. There is the Leila stalker situation, and the Jack Hyde is planning revenge situation, and the Grey flies a corporate helicopter and maybe it goes down in the forest event. Along with the costume ball shindig, and the tool around the Seattle bay in a huge yacht affair, and the Steele gets mad and walks around by herself for hours sequence.

Could this movie be any more boring and inconsequential? Doubt it. Are there any redeeming factors? Yes, the scenery is beautiful and locations look amazing and the production values are top notch. But there is no actual story to tell and no character development. It is more like 15 or 20 minutes of insipid dialog and waiting around for the next “make sexy times”. It is not possible to fault the actors for failing in the roles and having no chemistry. The story gives them nothing to work with.

However, there is no doubt that middle-aged women who loved the “Twilight” series are also gonna eat this up. It will make a yacht-load of money, but not like the previous movie. The rest of the people seeing this might think they are in for an exotic, romantic and erotic adventure. But more than likely they will feel as if they are the ones getting screwed…

Rings

February 3, 2017 Published by JMcNaughton

What started as a Japanese horror movie has become a franchise in the United States. First as “Ringu”, then the American remake, “The Ring”, with a sequel called “Ring 2”. They all feature he storyline of a person who watches a bizarre short movie clip, and then gets a phone call where they get the message ‘seven days’. For a week, that person who has seen the movie is haunted by creepy images until the last day, when the ghoul named Samara comes to get them…UNLESS you can get somebody else to watch a copy of your video, and the Ring cycle continues.

In this muddy story line, Julia (Matilda Lutz) sees her boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe) go off to college. There he takes a class with Professor Gabriel Brown (Johnny Galecki). Gabriel has an ongoing secret of seeing the Ring movie years ago. He has spent several years developing a little campus club of people who see the movie and then need to find someone else to take their place. Holt is talked into the cycle, and Julia visits the campus to find out what is going on. She meets Skye (Aimee Teegarden) but Skye needs somebody new to watch the video, because Samara is coming for her today.

It all goes wrong for Skye, but Julia thinks she can help Holt by watching his copy, thus taking the curse off of him. Holt and Gabriel find out that the video copy that Julia has seen is different. It has video embedded in the shorter video. So, is that “Ring-ception”? Anyway they chase down clues about where the body of Samara might be kept. It leads them to a small rural town call Sanctuary City.

They hunt all around and find out about mysterious things that happen 30 years ago. A young girl disappeared, there was a huge flood, and the priest in the main church gave up the building and now it is very rundown. There are strange visions that Julia has, and she meets an old caretaker for the graveyard. Burke (Vincent D’Onofrio) is now blind, but he has a very deep knowledge of what happened many years ago. Maybe he knows a little too much…

This franchise is starting to run on fumes at this point. The story is a head-scratcher, the dialog is laughable, and the character’s actions become idiotic. No Julia! You don’t have to open that locked door at the end of the hallway! No Julia! You don’t have to crawl into the tiny crypt at the graveyard! No Julia! You don’t have to watch that video that everyone has told you not to watch!

It was hard to get excited for any portrayal or role in this movie. All the actors seemed to the best they could with the odd dialog and the unbelievable plot actions. But I’m sure that Vincent D’Onofrio cried all the way to the bank to cash his check from being in this movie. Unfortunately, the ending screamed out loud: “Hey, we really want to do more sequels like this one!”

But in this case, perhaps it is best that the “Ring” is finally broken…

The Space Between Us

February 3, 2017 Published by JMcNaughton

The movie “The Space Between Us” seems to be on odd mash-up. It is about a boy who grew up on Mars, and gets a chance to visit Earth and fall in love. It takes parts from a science fiction movie, a young-adult romance, a story of person with a severe medical condition who wants to hit his bucket list, a cross-country journey film genre and puts it all together. Kind of a cross between “The Martian” and “The Fault in out Stars”, maybe call it: “The Fault in our Mars”…

Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman) is a billionaire who personally sponsors the NASA space program to live on Mars. The flight crew gets there, and on the way Astronaut Elliot discovers she is pregnant. She gives birth on Mars and promptly dies. Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) is her son whose very existence is kept a total secret. But when he is 16, he finds a way to contact a high-school age girl named Tulsa (Britt Robertson). She has been in a series of unhappy foster homes, but she is resourceful and finds a way to have chat sessions with Gardner.

Kendra Wyndham (Carla Gugino) is a fellow Astronaut on Mars, Gardner ‘s mehtor and mother figure. But she knows that Gardner needs to get away. NASA Director Tom Chen (B. D. Wong) decides to bring Gardner and Kendra back to Earth. Gardner must undergo some physical training and special medical treatment to reinforce his undersized bones. Living with Mars gravity is tough, when you leave and go to Earth. He explains to Tulsa that he will go on a trip and vows to here that they will meet up soon.

Once on Earth, Gardner finds a way to conveniently escape the NASA medical facility and work his way to meet Tulsa. She is upset that he did not communicate for the past few months, but he says he was on a long trip. Nathaniel, Tom Chen and Kendra go after Gardner, with the help of the authorities. Tulsa sees that Gardner could be in trouble. She uses her near-criminal skills to keep ahead of the group chasing them. Gardner really wants to find his father, and he has a couple of clues.

They ‘borrow’ a biplane, a BMW and a truck to get far away. They travel to New Mexico, the Grand Canyon (lovely), Sedona (beautiful), and they finally end up at a beach house on the California coast. Gardner is expecting to find his dad, but he finds out something different. Tulsa has a solidly cynical view of the world, yet she starts to believe that there is something unusual about Gardner. The time that they spend together makes both of them happy. Yet, the past is not far behind, and the group finally discovers where Gardner and Tulsa are located.

So to break this movie down, I think it came about by somebody listing to the lyrics of Elton John’s song “Rocket Man”:

Mars ain’t the kind of place

To raise your kids

In fact, it’s cold as hell

And there’s no one there to raise them

If you did

And from that, this movie was born. Perhaps not on Mars, but the lyrics might explain it a bit more. So this movie was right for the intended audience: teenage girls. The acting was just OK, but Britt Robertson does a more convincing role. Asa Butterfield is very tall and lean and lanky, so he might have been born on Mars. The script was ham-fisted at times, and made some very clunky character transitions.

So if you want real sci-fi adventure, look elsewhere. If you want an honest young adult style romance, look elsewhere. If you want a somewhat jammed together version of both, “The Space Between Us” is your launching pad…

Author: JMcNaughton