Gran Turismo

I am not a gamer.  

I also couldn’t care less about auto racing. 

However, seeing the trailers and having a cast including David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, and Djimon Hounsou, I wanted to see this underdog story based on true events.  

Glad I did. 

Gran Turismo is a much-needed palate cleanser and a thoroughly enjoyable film from start to finish.

First, it's an interesting story.  Completely far-fetched on the surface, but the fact it really happened makes it intriguing. While there's tons of exciting action, the film doesn't skimp on heart, emotion, or humor. Gran Turismo has it all in a crisply directed, chaotic entertaining package.  The soundtrack is surprising and evening shocking but works like a charm.  My heart and appreciation go out to the sound mixers on this one. These folks did an incredible job capturing the intensity, thrill, and excitement of auto racing.  

Really gets the adrenalin pumping.

The casting and acting are great. Archie Madekwe’s performance as Jann Mardenborough is powerful and engaging.  You feel for him every step of the way, delighting in each triumph and lamenting every setback. David Harbour is definitely on a roll.  While underused, Orlando Bloom nails it. The emotional performance of Djimon Hounsou took me to my happy place even as he brought me to tears.  

Yes, Gran Turismo gives us characters to invest in and care about.  If anything, I wanted to delve deeper into several of the characters. 

Score! 

With a two-hour 15-minute runtime, Gran Turismo isn’t overly long in reality, but there are some pacing issues making it feel longer.  The film never quite drags, but it definitely gets too close for comfort in places and had me wondering/feeling things should be wrapping up and how much longer I'd be sitting there. Not great, but far from terrible.

As far as racing films go, I’d say Gran Turismo isn’t quite on par as say, Ford v. Ferrari, but it’s definitely up there. It's a solid, thrilling, inspiring, and well worth a trip to the theater.  

Gran Turismo gets a 7 from me.

#GranTurismo

Blue Beetle

STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I’m not a comic book reader and have no knowledge or insight of this character above or beyond what is shown in the film.

This week two new films hit the theater, I opted to see DC’s latest superhero offering Blue Beetle.  I’m going to make this review short and not so sweet because frankly, like the film’s writer, I don’t feel like putting much time, effort, or thought into it.  So yes, I didn’t choose wisely.

The pros.  

The soundtrack is good.  Once you get past the initial, clunky setup, George Lopez’s Uncle Rudy is enjoyable.  You have to sit through three fourths of the film to see it, but once she steps into the spotlight, Adriana Barraza’s Nana also delights and shines.  Nana is easily more interesting and engaging in her limited screen time than the main character.  

And... that’s pretty much it for the pros.

The cons.

There are many. 

Too many.  

First, the film is just boring.  The two hour seven-minute runtime feels like an eternity.  From the jump, nothing pulls you in or makes you care about what’s going on.  I was fidgeting, looking at my watch, and starting myself analysis of why I wasn’t engaged within the first twenty to twenty-five minutes.  Forty minutes in I was itching to pull out my phone and start scrolling.  It wasn’t just a “me” thing either. The majority of the audience was squirming in their seats, getting up to get refills or hit the restroom, or like the gentleman in front of my, just slumped over with his head resting on his hand barely awake.  And yes, I did see a couple of people sleeping.

The script is generic.  There’s little to no depth of anything.  It’s predictable and the dialogue takes cringe worthy to a new level. Plot holes upon plot holes.  Ugh. If this was really the final draft for the script, I’d hate to see what the rough drafts were like.  Nothing is developed or explained.  There’s no meat on these bones. The film relies on telling us every five to ten minutes what it’s aiming at instead of just showing us.

The entire film is nothing more than tropes and stereotypes held together by CGI.  Our villain, Susan Sarandon’s Victoria Kord is cartoonish and cliched.  What a waste and a disappointment.  The other characters lack characterization and development and are reduced to mere caricatures.  Stupid, annoying caricatures.   

With the exception of a couple of lines, the humor misses like a Stormtrooper in a hallway battle.

The post credit sequence is even weak and predictable.

Yes, I can go on and on with this one. But, like film itself, there’s no reason. I can't and won't recommend seeing this one.

Blue Beetle gets a 3 from me.

#bluebeetle

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

 

Movie Review: The Last Voyage of the Demeter

The summer movie season is starting to wind down, but anticipated films continue to hit the big screen. My latest trip to the theater had me checking out the second Dracula film released this year. Namely, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, based on The Captain's Log from Bram Stokers’ 1897 gothic novel Dracula. 

The production values on this film are great and really set it apart.

Gorgeous sets, great lighting, a haunting Bear McCreary score, rich audio mixing, and strong direction. All combine with beautiful cinematography, strong performances, good CGI and creature effects to create the perfect tone for the harrowing tale to be told.

Sounds promising.

However, the overall film fell/felt flat.

No doubt a large part of that can be attributed to the film’s pacing.  

The Last Voyage of the Demeter clocks in with a runtime of 1 hour 58 minutes, but feels much, MUCH longer.  It takes the better part of an hour before things pop off and there really isn't much going on during the setup.  That’s just too long to wait for the action. Especially given the audience awareness of what’s behind the “mystery” on the ship.  Even once the crew is aware something is off, things continue to drag out before there’s a true sense of urgency or danger.  Undercutting the suspense and tension.  

Precisely what you don’t want to do with a horror film.

The script is thin and lazy as is the resulting character development.  For the all the great acting, there isn’t much to the make you care or root for the characters.  As for their actions (and inaction), to put it mildly they’re nonsensical at best. Silly at worse.

I really had high hopes for an epic Dracula story with The Last Voyage of the Demeter.  I got a visual feast that lacks any real punch.

No need to rush to the theater for this one. It should be streaming soon. 

The Last Voyage of the Demeter gets a 5.5 from me.

#demetermovie

Meg 2: The Trench

 

We’re still deep in the throes of summer.  It’s hotter than blazes. Shark Week has just concluded. Sounds like the perfect time to hit the theater and indulge in the next popcorn film offering, Meg 2: The Trench. That’s exactly what I did this week.

There isn’t a lot to say about Meg 2: The Trench.

2018's The Meg is absurd and silly fun. I expected Meg 2: The Trench to go bigger and be more of the same.  It delivers.

Yes!

Returning casts members Jason Statham (Jonas), Cliff Curtis (Mac), Page Kennedy (DJ), and Sophia Ca (Meiying) return as to the franchise as their characters pick up where their characters left off 6 years prior. This time around the group is working for the Oceanographic Institute exploring the trench and fighting to save the world’s oceans. Obviously and much to my delight, things quickly go wrong, and the chomping soon begins.

Meg 2 wastes no time getting to the action with the opening Cretaceous Period a sequence. Not only does it set the tone for the rest of the film, it has more satisfying dino action than in the entirety of the Jurassic World Dominion.  

Things only go up, or rather down from there.  Over the next hour fifty-six minutes, three megalodons, various other prehistoric creatures spend the better part of the film hunting and trying to chow down on the crew. Only to be thwarted in more over-the-top ways. Adding to the fun is a group of mercenaries on the mix, so nowhere is safe. In other words, exactly what is expected, and I wanted.

Meg 2: The Trench, like the original has a bit of everything. Action, humor, drama, and heart. The deaths are quick, brutal, and largely bloodless to keep the PG-13 rating, so once again if you want more gore, you’ll be disappointed. 

Fast pacing and chaotic direction. Elements harken back to The Abyss and Deep Blue Sea work to good effect. Strong SFX. 

The soundtrack is more lacking this time around, I wanted more foreign versions of popular songs, but it’s still effective.  Can’t get more meta or on target than the closing credits song Chomp. Like the rest of the film, it’s loud, brash, a bit brainless, and entertaining as hell.  

While the main characters have grown figuratively and literally (shout out to Kennedy’s DJ in particular), Meg 2: The Trench doesn’t pretend to try and re-invent the wheel.  It is what it is.  And that’s exactly what movie goers want heading it.  Think Fast and Furious in the ocean.  

Grab your snacks, shut down your mind, and enjoy the ride.

Meg 2: The Trench gets a 9 from me.

#Meg2