Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

 

The weather is starting to heat up (boo) and so are the summer film releases.  This week’s trip to the movie theater had me taking in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise.  Kingdom picks up briefly where War for the Planets of the Apes leaves off then picks up many generations later as we find out what Caesar’s legacy has wrought.

The good news is with a two-hour twenty-five-minute runtime, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes succeeds in delivering a visually rich, drama punctuated with great action filled sequences. The cinematography is stunning, and the film pops off the screen making for a rich world building experience. 

Overall, I feel Kingdom delivers an entertaining sequel worthy of the previous trilogy. 

Worthy but a lesser film for my money.

The film does drag, and you feel the slow pacing throughout.  There’s also a basic lack of reason/explanation.  I’m not sure why this has become a trend, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest film to through a bunch a stuff at the audience leaving you wondering about the who, what, why, how for seventy-five percent of the film only to give you a rushed, unsatisfactory answer during the last twenty-five percent of the movie. The result makes for a much thinner, less gratifying storyline.

Adding to this issue for me is the lack of characterization this go around.  We have an all-new group of characters but there isn’t much development or depth given to them.  Things are left very surface level and there’s not a lot to grab on to make you invested in their plight other than the setup of this is our hero so care about him. This is our villain so root against him. A couple of characters started to really pique my interest but are too quickly disposed of so ultimately don’t go anywhere. They’re too flat and generic. 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes definitely feels like the beginning of a new trilogy and while it works well as an introduction for what lies ahead, it definitely feels hollow.  I liked it but didn’t love it and find that the more I think about it the less taken I am with the film as a whole. This is a tricky one for me.

Taking into consideration for the potential for the franchise as well as the actual film itself, I’m going to give Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes a generous 7 - 7.5

#kingdomoftheplanetoftheapes

The Fall Guy

 

After another long lull in the action, this week I once again ventured to my local movie theater to check out the latest film release.  The Fall Guy is the latest film from stuntman turned director David Leitch starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, loosely (very loosely) based on the 1980s tv series from Glen A. Larson.  I went into this one not knowing what to expect and just hoping for a couple of hours of worthwhile entertainment that justified leaving the house.

Mission accomplished.

While it took me a bit to completely get into this two-hour and six-minute film, it did feel longer, I nonetheless got there and enjoyed myself.  All told, The Fall Guy is light-hearted, action packed, humorous fun. 

The chemistry between Gosling and Blunt makes the film.  The movie within the movie and the “behind-the-scenes” stunt work as well as the actual film’s stunt work is an endearing love letter to all the unsung heroes who make our favorite films so much more.

An absolutely kickass soundtrack, wonderful supporting cast in Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, and Stephanie Hsu add to the joy and fun of this film. As a fan of the original series the nods of homage and the revamped theme song really brought joy. 

There’s not much more I feel I can say without getting into spoiler neighborhood other than while not perfect, The Fall Guy solidly ushers in 2024's summer popcorn flicks. If you’re looking to get out of the house/heat, need to shut off your mind, and just enjoy yourself, The Fall Guy is a good choice. Be sure to stay for the credits to see all the fun behind, behind-the-scenes fun.

The Fall Guy gets a 7 from me.

#TheFallGuy

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

 

Greeting and salutations.

Once again, I’ve emerged from the darkened confines of my local movie theater.  After a great deal of anticipation on my part, I took in an early showing of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Getting down to tacks of brass I’m going to make this review short if not so sweet.

I had been eagerly awaiting the release of GFE since the first trailer drop. After the bang-up job done with Ghostbusters: After Life I expected/hoped for another home run. For my money though, this time around the Ghostbuster franchise has hit a double at best.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a film that weirdly has all the elements you can want in a Ghostbuster film in spades to make it work, yet sadly, it doesn't. Everything from cast, sets, costumes, props, locales etc. are there but never quite combine in a satisfying manner.

OGs, callbacks, homages, new faves, upgrades, great visuals.  It’s all there. But like much of the film’s humor it falls flat and fails to resonate in a manner greater than the sum of its individual parts. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has a runtime of only an hour fifty-five minutes, but I swear it felt closer to two and a half easily.  The pacing is rough. It pains me to say, yes, I got bored on and off throughout the film and struggled staying invested.  

Frozen Empire’s storyline is directionless and unbalanced. Many of the characters are undeveloped and have little to no cohesion with one another let alone plot.  People and things are dropped in randomly, never explained and glossed over. There’s really nothing to sink your teeth into.  

The biggest draw of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the nostalgia. As such there’s plenty of fan service which is wonderful.  The issue is there isn’t anything done with that fan service to bolster the film or move the franchise forward. You get all the elements you want except for a good story and a fun ride. Making GFE another prime example of a huge film that's all sizzle with little to no substance. Something which needs to be desperately rectified moving forward.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire the film gets a 6 from me.  The merchandising is a solid 10+

#GhostbustersFrozenEmpire

Madame Web

 

Aaaannnd, I’m back.

 Once again, I’ve emerged from the shadows, two months into the new year, and hit the movie theater for the first time.  My latest outing was to take in Marvel’s Madame Web.  

First and foremost, standard disclaimer applies.  I’m unfamiliar with the comics, know nothing of this character/story beyond what’s in the film.  Blah, blah, blah.

Anywho, moving on.

I’m starting 2024 not with a bang, but a resounding thud.  

The short and not so sweet of Madame Web is this film is total trash.

Madame Web is one hour-fifty-six minutes (felt infinitely longer) of bad writing, bad acting, excruciatingly bad dialogue wrapped up in a nonsensical plot (I’m using plot in the loosest sense) filled with holes the size of the Grand Canyon which had me questioning the point of the entire exercise from roughly six or seven minutes in until the last credit rolled. 

Speaking of credits, mercifully there is no end credit sequence(s).

It can’t be all bad, can it? 

Actually no, the soundtrack is good. Bless Tiffany, The Cranberries, Britney and others for small favors. That’s it. There's nothing else to recommend this crapfest.

Madame Web is definitely not worth the gas, effort to go to the theater, or price of admission. Do yourself a favor and skip this one altogether or if you feel you must see it, wait until it hits streaming (shouldn't take long) because this is two hours of your life you won’t get back. 

Madame Web gets a 3 from me.

Migration

With the waning days of 2023 at hand, I ventured to my local movie theater one last time to see the latest family film from Illumination: Migration.  Migration took five years to bring to the big screen due to COVID delays and all the voice actors recorded their lines separately, never meeting.  A practice that became the new norm during the pandemic (Luca, Raya and the Last Dragon).

I’ve taken a few extra days to ponder on this one trying to figure out how I feel.  I’m pretty much drawing blanks. 

For me, Migration is just okay at best and largely forgettable.

The film’s animation is spectacular, with fantastic colors and textures that leap off the screen.  Yet most everything else about it rolled over me like the proverbial water off a duck's back.

The story isn’t new by any means (Finding Nemo). The majority of the characters aren’t engaging and come off as flat and even annoying with the exception of Carole Kane’s Erin. The hour twenty-three-minute runtime felt much longer.  The “cuteness” and “humor” didn’t land.  

Much like the minion short prior to the film, Migration is bland, uninspired, and standard fare at best. Three fourths of the way through the film there are moments which had some life and interest in them, but it was much too little, far too late.  

There’s little beyond the animation to hook adults.  Only the youngest audience members seemed engaged with let alone enjoyed the film in the showing I took in.  Older kids and the vast majority of parents were restless.  

I opted to utilize my time deciding what I was going to have for dinner. FYI, I went with a creamy tomato basil soup and a three-cheese grilled cheese sandwich. Comfort food.

Migration is the animation equivalent of an eye-popping meal that readies your tastebuds for a culinary delight only to leave you disappointed and unsatisfied with each bite.  A lot of empty calories with little enjoyment. 

Save yourself some time and money and wait until this one is available on one of your streaming services.  

Shouldn’t take long.

Migration gets a 4 from me.

#migration

 

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

 

Once again, I emerge from the darkened movie theater to share my thoughts on my latest film viewing: Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom.  

First let me apologize for keeping this one short, it’s a cold rainy day and my desire to curl up with a hot mug of tea, cuddle under a blanket, and watch one of my annual Christmas movie films supersedes spending too much time on this review.  Second, it should be noted that any and all desire to see this film evaporated months ago. Too many controversies plaguing it for too long and the trailers weren’t exactly screaming “must see”. 

So why go?

Umm, Jason Momoa and curiosity of course.

Yes, there was a fair amount of dread going into this one for sure, but I admit it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Nice surprise there. However, when it comes down to it, I didn’t find ATLK as good as it could or should have been.

Momoa does his best to bring the fun and joy from the first film and does a pretty decent job, but it still feels flat and forced overall.  Pretty much the case for the entire film actually. 

Everything about Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is a very hit and miss proposition.  

Returning cast of Momoa, Wilson, Abdul-Mateen II, Kidman, Morrison, Lundgren and more? Great.  The elephant in the room? Not so much. Clearly not in the film as much as originally intended, but more than should be with cringe worthy results.

Humor throughout? 

Yes. Sadly, it falls flat as often as it lands. 

CGI eye-popping or downright gawd awful depending on the scene. 

Great action sequences interspersed with pure silliness. 

A plodding “been there seen that got the t-shirt plot” that’s both simplistic yet overly convoluted, somehow managing to do too little and too much simultaneously.  

Dialogue that offers up a few tasty morsels but is arguably mostly trash. 

There’s a weird boring energy that persists throughout the film and a sense of laziness from all the things you’ve definitely seen before in other films which did it better.

While more watchable than I expected, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom suffers from all the delays, numerous studio recuts, and an identity crisis surrounding what kind of film this wants to be.  All which hang over the end product like the sword of Damocles and you never get past that feeling of dread/doom while viewing. 

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom has its moments, they are definitely few and far between. I enjoyed the music, a lot of the back and forth between Orm and Arthur and, seeing other returning characters, and various other bits and bobs that pop up. But I never found myself fully engaged with the film. I didn’t hate it, but I’m far from clamoring for more.  ATLK is leftover DCEU fair, and it shows. No one involved seems invested in the end product and I left the theater feeling the same way.  

Still, I’m going to give Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom an overly generous 6, largely based on my fondness for Momoa and several other cast members alone. The snacks were also particularly tasty too. 

In actuality Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is more of a 4.

BTW, there’s one credit scene.

#Aquaman2

Wonka

 

Seasons’s greetings!

I once again emerge from my darkened, local movie theater to share my thoughts on the latest family fare offered up by writer/director Paul King, Wonka.  Being a huge fan of Gene Wilder's 1971 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I couldn’t wait to see what King (Paddington) came up with for this companion piece to the original.  This go around, the story is an origin story focused on the young, idealistic, and naive Willy Wonka as he pursues his dream of becoming a chocolatier and the friends he makes along his journey. 

As an origin story, Wonka is a fresh and interesting take which is simultaneously original and familiar. A combination that makes for an overall pleasant and enjoyable movie experience. 

The cast, peppered with frequent collaborators of other King films bring the energy, laughs, and whimsy.  Well-acted and cast across the board. Once I got out of my own head (as a fan of The Good Place Timothée Chalamet takes me a minute to get behind) I enjoyed Timothée Chalamet's portrayal of Wonka. The chemistry with Calah Lane’s Noodle is great. Olivia Colman continues to live her best life onscreen. Paterson Joseph makes villainy fun. Hugh Grant as the Oompa Loompa is a long time making an appearance, but well worth the wait. And Jim Carter is a delight and possess some serious pipes. 

The new musical score fits this new take while having a couple of callbacks to Pure Imagination theme from the original tying the films together.  However, while well done and catchy, these songs and their accompanying dance routines aren’t nearly as memorable.  

Overproduced perhaps? 

Don't get me wrong. I definitely enjoyed them during the movie but didn’t leave the theater singing any of them.

Visually the film is eye-catching and leaps off the screen.  The costumes and sets are vibrant and whimsical bringing the "magic" of the film to life. Yet somehow the use of visual effects over practical definitely undercuts the impact in some places toning down the “wow” factor.  The awe and wonder become noticeably flat.

When all is said and done, Wonka delivers what it sets out to do.  Namely gives the audience an hour fifty-six minutes of entertaining escapism the entire family can enjoy.  Can’t complain about that. So, I'm not going to. I will say while I did have a good time watching Wonka, I was left with a sense of being underwhelmed.  

Why?

My take? Wonka is a solid, entertaining piece of work, but it’s safe.  

Too safe.  

There’s no edginess or darkness lying below the surface. I missed that in this version. It's a little too sweet. For me it keeps Wonka in the good category, not great.

Wonka gets a 7.5 from me.

Yes, there’s some credit sequence action that you need to hang around for.

#Wonka