Just when you thought that the summer high adrenaline, action flicks hadn't started yet, the film "London Has Fallen" is released. You know this one. This is the successor sequel to 2013's "Olympus Has Fallen" with a lot of the same cast. As with the majority of sequels being lackluster to their predecessors, this is certainly as good as the first installment. Not that the first film was fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, this was still one that certainly held the audience's attention.
After the British Prime Minister has passed away under mysterious circumstances, all leaders of the Western world must attend his funeral. But what starts out as the most protected event on earth, turns into a deadly plot to kill the world's most powerful leaders and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. the President of the United States, Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), his formidable secret service head Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), his secret service director, Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett) and a MI6 agent, Jacqueline Marshall (Charlotte Riley), who trusts no one, are seemingly the only people that have any hope of stopping it.
The film starts out with a covert operation attacking a terrorist compound, but inadvertently killing innocent family members of this compound--being collateral damage, and the leader, Aamir Barkawi (Alon Moni Aboutboul) is bent on exacting revenge on the President of the United States for his actions. And what a better place to pull this off than setting up a scheme in London where all will be there, especially the president. This happens two years later.
Others to round out the cast are Morgan Freeman as VP Alan Trumbull, Robert Forster as General Edward Clegg, Jackie Earle Haley as DC Mason, Melissa Leo as Defense Secretary Ruth McMillan, Radha Mitchell as Leah Banning, Mike's wife, Sean O'Bryan as NSA Ray Monroe, Waleed F. Zuaiter as Kamran Barkawi and Colin Salmon as Chief Hazard.
This was adequately directed by Babak Najafi ("Seebe" '10, "Easy Money: Hard to Kill" '12) plus TV and Shorts. This filmmaker doesn't have a ton of feature film experience, but a film like this one is certainly familiar territory to him. Interesting that Antoine Fuqua didn't reprise his position as director, but he was probably committed to another project at the time, not to mention that this director had to be exceedingly less expensive to hire since Fuqua has quite the name in the directing realm by now. It was written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Christian Gudegast and Chad St. John, based on a story by Rothenberger and Benedikt, which is based on characters created by Rothenberger and Benedikt. OK, did you get all that? Surprisingly, this wasn't badly written, especially considering the plethora of writers involved. The fact that this was written by two of the four writers who created these characters helped in this being as well executed as it was, but there were still a few places of choppiness and inconsistencies. Otherwise this was certainly a better script than usual considering the genre and the fact there were four, yes four writers involved. The par is if there are more than two writers, the storyline can easily become convoluted, but this, although needed some polish, was snappy and definitely kept the audience's attention.
Crime, action, thriller. All great elements of a high adrenaline, high explosive, big-budget film. If this is what you want, this will certainly fit the bill. Hey, if one has seen the trailer on this, and how could you miss it, one would have to know what they're walking into. This is big action at its finest, and isn't this enough for an action-packed slice of escapism?
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 99mins.
While normally the quality of films during this time of year are often less than desired--this being a 'dead zone' time of year, once in a while, we are handed a little gem so we can keep watching and hoping that there will be more gems to follow. One such gem is "Zootopia", where I got a lot for than I bargained for.
From the largest elephant to the smallest shrew, the city of Zootopia is a mammal metropolis where various animals live and thrive. When Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) becomes the first rabbit to join the police force--the ZPD, it being her life dream, she quickly learns how tough it is to enforce the law. Determined to prove herself, Judy jumps at the opportunity to solve a mysterious case, much to the chagrin of Chief Bogo (Idris Elba). Unfortunately, since her street smarts are incredibly limited, she must work with Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a wily, street smart fox who makes her job even more difficult, especially since she has only 48 hours in which to solve this case or loses her position on the force. Can she solve the case using Nick's assistance, or will Nick cause her to throw in the towel?
Others to round out the cast are Jenny Slate as Bellwether, Nate Torrence as Clawhauser, Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Hopps, Judy's mom, Don Lake as Stu Hopps, Judy's dad, Tommy Chong as Yax, J.K. Simmons as Mayor Lionheart, Octavia Spencer as Mrs. Otterton, Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton, Shakira as Gazelle, Raymond S. Persi as Flash, Della Saba as Young Hopps, Maurice LaMarche as Mr. Big and Phil Johnston as Gideon Grey.
This was deftly directed by relative newcomers to feature films, Byron Howard ("Bolt" '08, "Tangled" '10) plus shorts and Rich Moore ("Wreck-It Ralph" '12).plus TV. The staging and pacing in this was executed with amazing delineation and the fluidity of continuity was unsurpassed. The writing by Jared Bush and Phil Johnston was equally well executed. Bush has a ton of TV to his credit whereas Johnston has that and a number of screenplays to his credit as well. Truly their well-orchestrated script wouldn't be the script it was if it wasn't for Howard, Bush, Moore, Johnston, Jennifer Lee, Josie Trinidad and Jim Reardon having the insightful story idea in which the screenplay is based. The continuity, cohesiveness, and well thought out story was not only creative, but had an awesome message that all needs to witness.
Certainly, knowing that Disney Studios, being the company that produced this, created this caused me to be quite leery of seeing this because the studio is simply part of that Hollywood machine into marketing a product to death so as to make a ton of bucks, but with all objectivity, this film soared on so many levels. Hey I went into the theater hoping to catch errors, and left finding none. Kudos to Disney Animation Studios! Jason Bateman's role as Nick simply stills the show.
Honestly, if you're into animated flicks, you'll be in animation heaven, but even if you're not, this is still entertaining and carries an amazing message that all can learn from--whether one is old or young, male or female, any race. Enjoy!
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG 108mins.
As we continue with new films for the new year, we also continue, as with past years, with films based on a true story. As I've mentioned in prior reviews, truth is and can be stranger than fiction. Coupled with that, we have yet another Middle East war based film thrown in the company of "Hurt Locker", "Thirty Dark Zero", "Stop Loss", even the recent "13 Hours". "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" being a combination comedy/drama makes this a bit different than the aforementioned films, but it is definitely another one of these films to encapsulate what has happened over there for generations later to learn from.
Eager for a new professional challenge, TV reporter/journalist Kim Barker (Tina Fey) decides to serve as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, where she is embedded with a Marine unit. During her time abroad, she is forced to contend with a fiery U.S. general named Hollanek (Billy Bob Thornton), befriends an affable Marine, Specialist Coughlin (Evan Jonigkeit), a fellow reporter, Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie) and a British photographer Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman).
This true story of Kim Barker's years as a reporter in both Afghanistan and Pakistan starts as a flashback in 2006 and takes us back to 2002 where she was pondering if she really wanted to do this. Her recounting the details of what occurred during this time was obviously therapeutic for her as was it a teaching aid for the audience watching this.
Others to round out the cast are Alfred Molina as Ali Massoud Sadiq, Christopher Abbott as Fahim Ahmadzai, Kim's driver and confidante, Nicholas Braun as Tall Brian, Kim's cameraman, Stephen Peacocke as Nic, Kim's security guard while there, Sheila Vand as Shakira Khar, Fahim Anwar as Jaweed and Josh Charles as Kim's boyfriend.
This was effectively directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("I Love You Phillip Morris" '09, "Crazy, Stupid, Love. '11, "Focus" '15) plus TV. These filmmakers work as a team and it shows in that could they survive individually instead of collectively? This can be a great way in which to work, because what one guy can't come up with, the other will see something else from a different perspective to give the particular scene that element it really needed. We've seen this with the Coen Brothers, the Wachowski Brothers and others, and it actually pays off well when it comes to more effective filmmaking. It was written by Robert Carlock (TV experience since 1996). Considering this was this writer's first feature film script it wasn't bad and his plethora of TV writing has to be credited of why. When one sinks their teeth as much has this guy has done in TV scripts and stories, this simply hones the talent they have. There were places of inconsistencies, and some jumping around, but all in all, once this story got going, it was the interesting story this guy was obviously attempting to convey. I'm definitely curious to see what this guy is going to do next, and there will be a next time. This being a comedy/drama is interesting especially with Fey performing drama instead of her straight comedy which allows her to go out on a limb a bit more.
As war films go, this is certainly as effective as most, but with a screenplay that definitely needed some extra polish, one might be more interested in focusing on the characters than that of the actual story structure. Kudos to Kim Barker who wrote about her experiences in such a war torn, desolate area.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 112mins.
Police crime drama films are about as plentiful in Hollywood as the footprints at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Films such as "Training Day", "Contraband", "We Own the Night", "The Departed", "Narc" "Bad Boys", and the like are great fodder to ignite that incredible energy in every young guy that fantasizes about nabbing the bad guys. So to add to that ever increasing list, Hollywood brings us "Triple 9".
A crew of dirty cops including Mike Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie), Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) is blackmailed by the Russian mob headed up by Irina Vlaslov (Kate Winslet) to execute a virtually impossible heist. The only way to pull it off is to manufacture a 999, police code for "officer down". Their plan is turned upside down when Lt. Jeff Allen (Woody Harrelson) hires his nephew, Chris Allen (Casey Affleck) who transfers to their Atlanta division. The corrupt cops set up the unsuspecting cop to die, but Chris ends up foiling the attack, triggering a breakneck, action-packed finale filled with double-crosses, greed and revenge.
Others to round out the cast are Teresa Palmer as Michelle Allen, Chris' wife, Michael Kenneth Williams as Sweet Pea, Norman Reedus as Russell Welch, Gal Gadot as Elena Vlaslov, Michelle Ang as Trina Ling, Terri Abney as Leah Green and Alexander Babara as Ben Feldman.
This was directed with intensity and grit by John Hillcoat ("To Have & to Hold" '96, "The Proposition" '05, "The Road" '09, "Lawless" '12) plus shorts and videos interspersed. The emotion he was able to extract from these actors was amazingly real, especially Affleck's character, Chris. He played off well that 'regular guy' cop just wanting to do his job well, and this is pure directing. It was adequately written by Matt Cook (One Short). If this guy's resume says anything, it proves why this script had some problems. It simply jumped around too much and the lack of continuity was very apparent. Even when someone was asking about what a 999 was, it was never fully answered, like it was accidentally left out. I found out by doing research. This story had potential of being a very taught 'cat and mouse' game, but there was just too much choppiness in this to truly see it. Cook has the raw ability to write a good script--he does have a film completed and one in pre-production, so it will be interesting to see these films to see if there is any improvement in structure and style of his screenplay. I believe this guy just needs more work to see what he can really do.
This had a killer cast and solid directing, but with a mediocre script, it just wasn't the story it could've been. Certainly if your genre is police crime dramas, you'll like this, but even a fan of this genre might still have a bit of a problem. But if one can muster up enough objectivity, than you'll be able to see the potential.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: R 115mins.
In a world where there is so much violence, war, politics and craziness, we bring you "The 88th Annual Academy Awards". Although with all the politics looming over the Oscars, this year's host, Chris Rock obviously had to address the gorilla in the room. Before viewing the awards, I felt that Rock would've gotten a bit too passionate for an event that was to celebrate the film industry instead of bringing politics into it. But as I watched the show, I soon realized that even though Rock was certainly passionate, he also channeled his passion in a more humorous way teaching us in a more entertaining way. No, he was not Billy Crystal, who is undoubtedly the best host the Academy Awards has had, but he was much better than I expected. He kind of stumbled a bit in areas, but he then was able to catch himself before it turned into a total blunder.
There were some very humorous montages that Rock covered mostly addressing the obvious racial situation, and some very well done songs being nominated for best song, specifically "Til it Happens to You" from "The Hunting Ground" performed by Lady Gaga. There weren't too many surprises this year, except from "The Spotlight" winning best picture; I was sure "The Revenant" would cop it, and the number of wins held by "Mad Max: Fury Road" for best makeup and hair, editing, production design, costume design, sound mixing and editing. I felt it would win a couple, but this many? Otherwise the rest was not surprising at all, especially Leonardo DiCaprio finally winning that elusive acting award, which he truly deserved. So on that note, here is the complete list of this year's winners:
Best Picture:
Spotlight
Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio-- The Revenant
Best Actress:
Brie Larson-- Room
Best Supporting Actor:
Mark Rylance-- Bridge of Spies
Best Supporting Actress:
Alicia Vikander-- The Danish Girl
Best Director:
Alejandro Inarritu-- The Revenant
Best Original Screenplay:
Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy-- Spotlight
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay-- The Big Short
Best Animated Film:
Inside Out
Best Foreign Language Film:
Son of Saul- Hungary
Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki-- The Revenant
Best Editing:
Margaret Sixel-- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Production Design:
Colin Gibson, Lisa Thompson-- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Costume Design:
Jenny Beavan-- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, Damian Martin-- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Original Score:
Ennio Morricone-- The Hateful Eight
Best Original Song:
Spectre "Writings On the Wall"-- Sam Smith, James Napes
Best Sound Mixing:
Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, Ben Osmo-- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Sound Editing:
Mark A. Mangini, David White-- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Visual Effects:
Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett-- Ex Machina
Best Documentary Feature:
Amy
Best Documentary, Short Subject:
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Best Short Film, Animated:
Bear Story (Historia de un oso)
Best Short Film, Live Action:
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles wird gut)
Governor's Award:
Gena Rowland, Spike Lee, Debbie Reynolds
As I mentioned prior, Chris Rock was passionate, in your face, but at the same time, he definitely restrained himself which is smart and savvy. This was a place where controversy can be mentioned, but one has to know how to do it, so as to keep the presentation entertaining and humorous which I feel Rock pulled off. This isn't the best awards presentation I've experienced-- Billy Crystal and Ellen DeGeneres are both better in this gig, but considering the gorilla in the room, Chris Rock gave it his all, and if anyone could even handle the controversy this year, Rock would have to be the one to handle it.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Non-rated Time- 3:20
Films based on a true story or events are often interesting and a writer can certainly create a script that is fresh and unique based in fact as opposed to fiction. And when the story is a feel-good film on top of it all, it just makes great fodder for being a real crowd pleaser. Well, after viewing "Eddie the Eagle", this equation certainly pans out in spades.
Inspired by true events, this is a feel-good story about Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Taron Egerton), an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself--even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach, Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic jump at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. With all the obstacles in his way: two British Olympic officials, Dustin Target (Tim McInnerny) and Richmond (Mark Benton), his dad, Terry (Keith Allen) and others, one would be forgiving if Eddie decided to throw in the towel. Besides his coach, his mom, Janette (Jo Hartley) and Petra (Iris Berben) these individuals were the only ones that were behind Eddie in encouraging him on. This is the story of the loveable underdog with a never say die attitude.
Others to round out the cast are Christopher Walken as Warren Sharp, Edvin Endre as Matti Nykanen, another ski-jumper, Mads Pettersen as Erik Moberg, Rune Temte as Bjorn, Norwegian Coach, Jim Broadbent as BBC Commentator, Marc Benjamin as Lars Holbin and Dickon Tolson as UK Doctor.
Call me a sentimental slob, but I simply weaken when it comes to the feel-good format in films. So much so that no matter who stars in them or even what the premise of the film is, I will still go to the multiplex with the idea to see something that not only entertains but gives me a wonderful feeling as I leave the theater. This was effectively directed by Dexter Fletcher ("Wild Bill" '11, "Sunshine on Leith" '13). I believe that this guy is as effective of a director as he is because most of his experience is actually in the acting field, so he knows what it takes to motivate his actors into getting them prepared for a role and how to extract that certain emotion that is needed to convey to the audience that this actor is the person they are playing. It was written by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton based on a story by Kelton which is based on the life of Eddie Edwards. While neither of these writers have a ton of feature film writing, this was informative, entertaining and flowed well. If fact other than some small slow places in script, this was solid. It took a bit to get going, but once it did, it just soared in ways that you won't realize until you see it.
If you're a sentimental slob like me, you'll love this story. We need more Eddie Edwards out there, especially since we live in such a negative and angry world. This ski-jumper could continually turns those lemons into lemonade, and considering the world in which we live, this is a refreshing attitude that we all can learn from.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 105mins.
Biblical films are definitely on the rise as we've seen in recent past. With the likes of "The Son of God", "Noah", and more modern, but biblically based films like "Courageous", "Fireproof", God's Not Dead" and "War Room", it's apparent that we have not seen the last of these films, which is surely why "Risen" will be as appealing to audiences as the aforementioned films.
This follows the epic biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non- believer, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a powerful Roman Military Tribune, and his aide Lucius (Tom Felton). They are tasked by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) with solving the mystery of what happened to Yeshua or Jesus Christ (Cliff Curtis) in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem by locating the crucified body of Jesus Christ. But Clavius soon undergoes a crisis of faith when he witnesses miraculous events during the course of their investigation, all the while Pilate wondering about him as he continues his investigation.
Others to round out the cast are Maria Botto as Mary Magdalene, Luis Callejo as Joses, Antonio Gil as Joseph of Arimathea, Stewart Scudamore as Peter/Simon, Stephen Hagan as Bartholomew, Andy Gathergood as Quintus, a centurion, Richard Atwill as Polybius, Mish Boyko as John and Jan Cornet as Thomas/Dydimus.
This was certainly directed with that epic look by Kevin Reynolds ("The Beast of War" '88, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" '91, "Rapa Nui" '94, "Waterworld" '95, "One Eight Seven" '97, "The Count of Monte Cristo" '02, "Tristan + Isolde" '06) plus others and TV. I felt he really brought this character, Clavius to life. He was able to emit from Fiennes that true conviction and confusion of this spiritual fight going on inside him, especially considering the enormous politics involved with his position. It was written by Reynolds and Paul Aiello based on a story by Aiello. Even though Reynolds has a fair amount of experience in the writing field, Aiello has virtually no other experience before this film, but considering that, this was much better written than anyone could've expected. It's interesting that this film was actually written as an historical fiction in that the character of Clavius was plopped into a definite period of time--the crucifixion and subsequent Resurrection of Christ and the following search of the Christ's body by Pilate. These writers simply assumed that one of the Tribunes Pilate tasked was named Clavius in order to conduct the investigation. The subsequent search is certainly scriptural (Matt. 27:62-66) where it regards the Hebrew chief priests approaching Pontius Pilate requesting him to post guards at a sealed tomb to prove that Jesus Christ could not rise from the dead as He claimed. So kudos for them in making, an otherwise biopic an interesting mix of both historical events and assumed character development.
Whether one is a believer in Christ or a non-believer, there is certainly something for all here depending where one is in their spiritual walk. This is also a refreshing approach on a subject that has been written about a plethora of times. But, trust me, this topic is one in which can't be approached upon too much, because the message is so important and powerful.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 107mins.
Just when you thought that the summer high adrenaline, action flicks hadn't started yet, the film "London Has Fallen" is released. You know this one. This is the successor sequel to 2013's "Olympus Has Fallen" with a lot of the same cast. As with the majority of sequels being lackluster to their predecessors, this is certainly as good as the first installment. Not that the first film was fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, this was still one that certainly held the audience's attention. 
