NEGROMANCER 2.0: 2023

Showing posts with label 2023. Show all posts

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Review: "MEG 2: THE TRENCH" is Truly Megilicious

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 of 2024 (No. 1957) by Leroy Douresseaux

Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

Running time: 116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, language and brief suggestive material

DIRECTOR: Ben Wheatley

WRITERS: Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber; from a screen story by Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber (based on the novel by Steve Alten)

PRODUCERS: Belle Avery and Lorenzo di Bonaventura

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Haris Zambarloukos (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jonathan Amos

COMPOSER: Harry Gregson-Williams

SCI-FI/HORROR/ACTION

Starring: Jason Statham, Jing Wu, Cliff Curtis, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, Melissanthi Mahut, Whoopie Van Raam, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Felix Mayr, Ivy Tsui, and Sienna Guillory

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SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Meg 2: The Trench offers the same fun as the original film, The Meg (2018), but with all new monsters, villains, and action.

Jason Statham's Jonas Taylor does not dominate the new film as he did in the first, but Statham is still at his action-movie best.

I like Meg 2: The Trench enough that I want a third film... as soon as possible.

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Meg 2: The Trench is a 2023 science fiction, horror, and action film directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Jason Statham. The movie is a direct sequel to the 2018 film, The Meg. Meg 2: The Trench finds a research team fending off giant sharks and also the murderous criminals behind a malevolent mining operation in some of the greatest depths of “the Trench.”

Meg 2: The Trench opens several years after the events of the first film. Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), the diver who specializes in deep sea search and rescue, has been involved in fighting environmental crimes on the ocean. He is also helping the underwater research facility, Mana One, in exploring a further deep part of the Mariana Trench where the Megalodon of the original film was discovered.

Following the death of Suyin Zhang (which is not show onscreen), Jonas has been raising her teenage daughter, now 14-year-old Meiying (Sophia Cai), alongside her uncle and Suyin's brother, Jiuming Zhang (Jing Wu). Jiuming has acquired his father's company, X-Pletandum Technologies, alongside wealthy financier, Hillary Driscoll (Sienna Guillory). Jiuming has also been studying an 80 ft (24 m) female Meg called Haiqi, who was discovered as a pup and trained by Jiuming, but who has been acting erratically of late.

Jonas returns to Mana One where he and the survivors of the first Meg disaster, Mac (Cliff Curtis), Mana One operations manager, and DJ (Page Kennedy), a Mana One engineer, join Jiuming's latest project. He wants to explore more of the Mariana Trench, unaware that here are more Megs and also now human danger with which to contend. Can Jonas save the day, again?

The first film, The Meg, is loosely based on Steve Alten's 1997 novel, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror. Meg 2: The Trench is based on Alten's 1999 novel, The Trench, one of six sequels to the original novel, with a seventh due in 2024 or 2025. I have enjoyed the two films so much that I am considering reading, at least, some of the novels.

I gave The Meg a grade of “C+,” but in the years since I first saw it, I have come to love it. It is one of my favorite films, and now I would give it a “B+.” Meg 2: The Trench starts off slowly, but the film really kicks into gear when the story returns to Mana One, the central setting of the first film. The Trench is not a retread, as most of the action set pieces are new. There are a few references to the first film, but the writers of the original film return to offer new jump-scares, new monsters, and an added number of awful humans.

Meg 2: The Trench gives Jason Statham's Jonas Taylor the chance to show off his martial art fighting skills, which he did not do in the first film. In fact, one of the other returning characters gets to kick some butt, and the sequel actually gives several characters their own set pieces so that they can shine.

Meg 2 isn't great cinema, but it is a great time at the movies. It is upgraded, campy monster movie fun that will have you swept up, dear readers, if you are willing to be swept up. I had a blast watching it, and I heartily recommend it to fans of the first film. Meg 2: The Trench makes me hope we get to see more Megs and more Trench in a third film.

B+

7 out of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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Thursday, February 15, 2024

Review: "SURROUNDED" Takes a Different Path to the Wild West

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 of 2024 (No. 1953) by Leroy Douresseaux

Surrounded (2023)

Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)

MPA – R for violence and language

DIRECTOR: Anthony Mandler

WRITERS: Anthony Pagana and Justin Thomas & Andrew Pagana

PRODUCERS: Jason Michael Berman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Derek Iger, Anthony Mandler, Ade O'Adesina, and Letitia Wright

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Max Goldman (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Ron Patane

COMPOSER: Robin Hannibal

WESTERN/DRAMA

Starring: Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael K. Williams, Kevin Wiggins, Brett Gelman, Luce Rains, Andrew Pagana, Augusta-Allen Jones, Herman Johansen, Keith Jardine, C.M Petrey, Austin Rising, and Tony Sedillo

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SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Letitia Wright can make audiences put aside her most famous role – that of Shuri in Marvel's “Black Panther” films – and accept her as a 19th soldier who can defend herself with a gun and take on any man trying to get the best of her.

--Although it lacks the epic scope of the great American Western films, Surrounded is riveting and intense.

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Surrounded is a 2023 Western drama film directed by Anthony Mandler and starring Letitia Wright, who is also one of the film's producers. After debuting at the Sun Valley Film Festival in April 2023, MGM released the film digitally (VOD) on June 20, 2023. Surrounded focuses on a former former Buffalo Soldier who travels west to lay claim on a gold mine, only to end up playing guard to a dangerous, captured outlaw.

Surrounded opens in the year 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War. Mo Washington (Letitia Wright) is a former Buffalo Soldier. [This was the nickname given to U. S. Army regiments that were primarily comprised of African-Americans and were formed during the 19th century to serve on the American frontier.] Mo arrives in Brushwood Gulch, New Mexico, the last stop on the edge of the Wild West.

Mo has a secret. He is actually a she. Mo is a former slave, who after becoming a freedwoman, disguised herself and became a soldier. After leaving the army, she travels west to take possession of a gold claim in the Territory of Colorado. Mo books passage on a stagecoach, but some time after departure, the coach is attacked by a group of “road agents” (marauders) led by the infamous Thomas “Tommy” Walsh (Jamie Bell).

After a chaotic fight, Mo is left to guard the captured Tommy Walsh, who tries to convince her to set him free. He has buried somewhere in the area the $120,000 that he and his gang stole during a recent bank robbery. So many sinister figures want him – from members of his gang to bounty hunters and assorted bandits. Now, Mo finds herself surrounded, and she must survive everyone who is coming for Walsh. Most of all, she must survive Tommy's wily ways.

Surrounded is a surprisingly intense Western drama made all the more intense that the lead character is a Black woman pretending to be a Black man in a world that hates both. Add racism and also racial elements and Surrounded is... surrounded by intensity. This is an unusual scenario for an American Western film, but Cathay Williams was a real-life African-American woman who disguised herself as a man and served out west in the U.S. Army from 1866-68 during the Indian Wars.

Like the film's tone, Letitia Wright is intense – quietly so – as the no-nonsense and devout Mo Washington. Wright makes everything in her performance seem genuine and convincing, from the way Mo dresses to her ability to wield large pistols. Wright is best known for playing the role of Shuri, the Wakandan princess in Marvel Studios' Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). In Surrounded, however, Wright made me forget Shuri and accept her as 19th century Black woman who survives slavery, the tragic deaths of her parents, and her time as a Buffalo Soldier.

Surrounded is filled with good performances. Fellow British actor, Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), has excellent screen chemistry with Wright, and Bell is quiet good as a Western character, bringing complexity and eccentricity to the standard murderous Western outlaw and bank robber. Surrounded is also the final film appearance of the Emmy Award-nominated actor, Michael K. Williams, who died in 2021. Here, he makes the most of his small role as Will Clay, so much so that I wish that he had a bigger role in the film.

Surrounded is a surprisingly riveting film. Early on, it seems as if it doesn't really have the energy to rise above being a mere historical drama and become a true Western film. It does and eventually hits its stride, although I wish the film had focused on some of the interesting characters outside the Mo Washington-Tommy Walsh dynamic. Surrounded is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu.

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, February 15, 2024

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Thursday, January 11, 2024

Review: "SALTBURN" is not Salty, nor Does it Burn

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 of 2024 (No. 1945) by Leroy Douresseaux

Saltburn (2023)

Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)

MPA – R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, and drug use.

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Emerald Fennell

PRODUCERS: Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, and Margot Robbie

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Linus Sandgren (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Victoria Boydell

COMPOSER: Anthony Willis

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe, Alison Oliver, Sadie Soverall, Paul Rhys, and Carey Mulligan

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REVIEW SUMMARY:

-- The new film from the writer-director of Emerald Fennell has an intriguing premise and is actually intriguing for about its first hour.

-- Their are few good performances, particularly by Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, and Archie Madekwe. Sadly, the movie focuses on its least interesting character, Oliver Quick, played by one of the hottest dull actors around, Barry Keoghan.

-- Saltburn is mainly for adventurous movie fans. Viewers looking to be entertained may want to look for a movie that is less stiff.

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Saltburn is a 2023 psychological drama and black comedy from writer-director Emerald Fennell. The film follows a new student at Oxford University who is drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, which leads to a tragic summer at the classmate's family's sprawling estate.

Saltburn introduces Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a scholarship student at Oxford University. Oliver struggles to fit in due to his inexperience with upper-class manners and deportment. However, one of Oliver's fellow students does capture his imagination, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), an affluent and popular student. It turns out that Felix is empathetic to Oliver and his stories of his parents' substance abuse and mental health issues.

After Oliver becomes distraught when he learns of his father's sudden death, Felix comforts him. Later, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his family's sprawling estate, Saltburn. Oliver meets Felix's eccentric parents, his father, Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), and his mother, Lady Elspeth Catton (Rosamund Pike). He also meets Felix's kooky and lewd sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver). Also staying at the state is fellow Oxford student and Felix's first cousin, Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), who thinks very little of Oliver. As the summer wears on, however, these unlikable people become too self-absorbed to recognize the danger so very near to them.

I was a huge fan of Saltburn writer-director Emerald Fennell's 2020, Promising Young Woman, for which Fennell won a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar. Promising Young Woman was a shocking, funny, vindictive, and righteous film, and which is much more than I can say about Saltburn, which looks like a sumptuous period drama. On the other hand, for all its good looks, Saltburn is sterile as a black comedy.

I can deal with a film that focuses on unlikable people, which Saltburn does. Still, I found Saltburn's lead actor, Barry Keoghan, and his character, Oliver Quick, dull and unimaginative. I don't get Keoghan's critical acclaim. He was pitiful and sad in The Banshees of Inisherin (2020), which earned him a “Best Supporting Actor” Oscar nomination. However, sad, silent waif characters bore me, and Keoghan's Oliver Quick is duller than his Dominic Kearney was in Banshees. Here, Keoghan's personality-free performance in this film does not convince me that Oliver is what the film's final act suggests he is. Honestly, what Fennell offers here is nothing more than a riff on novelist Patricia Highsmith's literary character, "Tom Ripley," if Ripley were played as a character that was stuffed and mounted. Also, I must admit to often mistaking Keoghan for another milky white boy actor, Ezra Miller (The Flash), who did the pale, waif thing really well until his... secrets came out.

I like Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton, a funny and charming character, and Elordi's boyish, white boy looks should give him at least a few years in Hollywood as a “hot thing.” The film's best performance is given by Archie Madekwe, the Black British actor who creates Saltburn's most intriguing character. As the “mixed-race” Farleigh Start, Madekwe is mysterious and sexy, and honestly, I wish Saltburn was about Farleigh's relationship with the Cattons and his life at Saltburn. I should also admit that I'm always crazy about Rosamund Pike, so I was in love with Lady Elspeth.

Ultimately, I can only recommend Saltburn to adventurous movie fans who are always on the lookout for films from interesting filmmakers, which Emerald Fennell certainly is. I simply wish that Saltburn burned a little more.

5 of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars

You can stream the SALTBURN film here on AMAZON Prime Video.

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Sunday, December 10, 2023

Review: Prime Video's "CANDY CANE LANE" is an Unexpected Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2023 (No. 1941) by Leroy Douresseaux

Candy Cane Lane (2023)

Running time: 117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)

MPA – PG for language throughout and some suggestive references

DIRECTOR: Reginald Hudlin

WRITER: Kelly Younger

PRODUCERS: Brian Grazer, Charisse M. Hewitt, Karen Lunder, and Eddie Murphy

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Newton Thomas Sigel (ASC)

EDITORS: Kenny G. Krauss and Jim May

COMPOSER: Marcus Miller

COMEDY/FANTASY

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Genneya Walton, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Madison Thomas, Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, Robin Thede, David Alan Grier, Ken Marino, Timothy Simons, Danielle Pinnock, and D.C. Young Fly

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

I watched “Candy Cane Lane” on a lark, and I did not expect much from it. Boy, am I surprised. It is so shockingly charming and endearing that this must be some kind of Christmas magic.

Eddie Murphy is quite good in family-oriented films, and even his fans who don't ordinarily like Murphy's family films will probably find something to like in “Candy Cane Lane”

The story is ridiculous at times, but “Candy Cane Lane” is the best Christmas movie I have seen in a long time. I recommend it without reservation.

Candy Cane Lane is a 2023 comedy, fantasy, and Christmas film directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Eddie Murphy. The film is an Amazon “Prime Original” that began streaming December 1, 2023. Candy Cane Lane focuses on a man who is so determined to win the neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest that he makes an unwise pact with a rogue elf.

Candy Cane Lane introduces Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy), a husband and father who crafts his own hand-carved Christmas decorations. Every year, a local television station hosts the “Candy Cane Lane Spectacular,” a contest to judge the best decorated house. Chris has never won, and he is jealous of his neighbor, Bruce (Ken Marino), who has won several times.

Shortly before Christmas, Chris' employer, the industrial plastics firm, Sydel Twain, lays him off. When Chris learns that this year's Candy Cane Lane prize is $100,000, he becomes desperate to win the money for his family, although he wife, Carol Carver (Tracee Ellis Ross), has a very good job. Chris is also oblivious to the lives of his two older children, Joy (Genneya Walton), a high school senior and track star, and Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixson), a tuba player and budding musician.

Looking for Christmas decorations and supplies, Chris and his youngest child, daughter Holly (Madison Thomas), stumble across “Kringle's,” a mysterious Christmas shop filled with all kinds of beautiful decorations, including model buildings, ceramic figures, and a strange Christmas tree. Chris is so enchanted by all that he sees, believing that these decorations could help him win Candy Cane Lane. He unwarily signs a deal with Kringle's eccentric shopkeeper, Pepper (Jillian Bell). However, Pepper is more than she seems, and so is the receipt Chris signs. Soon, he will need all the help he can get from his family and from a trio of diminutive new friends in order to keep himself out of Pepper's clutches. And he also has some Christmas lessons to learn.

Audiences first came to know and love Eddie Murphy from his stand-up comedy career; his stint as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (1980-84); and his R-rated comedy films, such as 48 Hrs (1982), Trading Places (1983), and Beverly Hills Cop (1983). Much to the chagrin of the those fans, Murphy's film career as an A-list star eventually led him to make innocuous family-friends films, especially Dr. Doolittle (1998), Shrek (2001), and Daddy Day Care (2003).

Those fans will not be pleased with Candy Cane Lane. It is a family movie, an absurd fantasy film, and a Christmas movie full of holiday lessons to learn. For me, Candy Cane Lane is one of the best absurd movies that I have ever seen. Its concepts and ideas are as imaginative and as inventive as they are ridiculous and preposterous, yet I find the film endlessly lovable. Every time I tried to dismiss it, I found myself drawn ever deeper into its delicious, addictive fluffiness. Candy Cane Lane is a true feel-good movie. It shouldn't work, yet it works to perfection. Considering director Reginald Hudlin's past directorial efforts, I was (and still am) shocked that he could pull of this kind of Christmas movie, which is, for the most part, a warm cup of cocoa. If anything, Candy Cane Lane suggests that screenwriter Kelly Younger is certainly inventive.

Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, and Robin Thede are a delight in their voice roles, and David Alan Grier is sly and smooth in his surprise role. Jillian Bell is nearly perfect as Pepper, except for a few moments that are too over the top. I think Madison Thomas needed more screen time as Holly Carver, and Timothy Simons and Danielle Pinnock are a winning pair as TV co-hosts, Emerson and Kit.

Eddie Murphy barely breaks a sweat as Chris Carver, and neither does Tracee Ellis Ross as Carol Carver. Still, they work well together as a screen couple at the center of this delightful family fare. Despite what some fans may think, Eddie Murphy has the magic touch when it comes to family films. Murphy passes on the lessons that Chris has to learn with a knowing wink and a nudge, and I was willing to buy it all. I think I'll be watching Candy Cane Lane again, if only because, for two hours, it made me believe in that Hollywood bullshit called “Christmas magic.”

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, December 10, 2023

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Friday, November 10, 2023

Review: "THE MARVELS" is a Fun-Filled Marvel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 of 2023 (No. 1938) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Marvels (2023)

Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for action/violence and brief language

DIRECTOR: Nia DaCosta

WRITERS: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik

PRODUCER: Kevin Feige

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sean Bobbitt (BSC)

EDITORS: Catrin Hedström and Evan Schiff

COMPOSER: Laura Karpman

SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of comedy

Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park See-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Leila Farzad, Abraham Popoola, Lashana Lynch, and Samuel L. Jackson, Tessa Thompson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Kelsey Grammer

REVIEW SUMMARY:

The Marvels is a direct sequel to the film, Captain Marvel (2019), and a continuation of the Disney+ miniseries, “Ms. Marvel” (2022).

The story brings Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel together to stop a Kree warrior named Dar-Benn from destroying several worlds in a bid to save the Kree home world, Hala.

The film is short and sweet and is also a quirky and weird science fiction superhero film that is similar in tone to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and to the Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

The Marvels' plot is a bit scattershot, but the fight and action scenes are highly energetic, resulting in a fun Marvel film full of likable characters.

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The Marvels is a 2023 superhero film directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Marvel Studios. The film is the 33rd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and is also a direct sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel. The Marvels is also a continuation of the Disney+/Marvel Studios television miniseries, "Ms. Marvel" (2022).

The film is headlined by the Marvel Comics character, Carol Danvers, who first appeared in the comic book, Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (cover dated: March 1968), and who later became Captain Marvel. In The Marvels, Captain Marvel gets her powers entangled with two other similarly-powered individuals, forcing the trio to work together to save the universe.

The Marvels opens with a focus on Hala, the capital planet of the Kree Empire. The collapse of the empire's “Supreme Intelligence” leads to a civil war among the Kree on their home world of Hala. The result is that the planet is becoming barren as it loses its natural resources and its sun is rapidly going dark. Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), the new leader of the Kree, retrieves one of two “Quantum Bands.” She hopes to harness its power and to pair it with her staff, “the Universal Weapon,” as part of her scheme to save Hala.

On Earth, specifically in a home in Jersey City, New Jersey, teenager Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), who is also the superhero, “Ms. Marvel,” is dealing with teenage and family issues. Kamala also happens to possess the other half of the Quantum Bands.

Meanwhile, above the Earth, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), now residing at the S.A.B.E.R. space station, has detected a “jump point” (which allows for hyperspace travel) anomaly caused by Dar-Benn. Nick Fury calls in Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), an astronaut who has the ability to manipulate all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, to investigate the jump point anomaly near S.A.B.E.R.

When Monica touches the jump point at the same time as Captain Marvel, it causes a reaction in which Monica, Carol, and Kamala switch places through teleportation. Now, this reaction brings the three young women together in order to stop Dar-Benn from destroying several worlds in order to save her home world, Hala. And Kamala thinks that she, Carol, and Monica can best do this as a team, a super-team she names “The Marvels.

In addition to being a sequel to the 2019 film, Captain Marvel, and being a continuation of the Ms. Marvel TV series, The Marvels includes story elements that appear in the Disney+ Marvel Studios miniseries, “WandaVision” (2021) and “Secret Invasion” (2023). There are also elements from Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). At this point, I wonder if watching Marvel movies means having to be familiar with what has happened in too many previous films and television series. There is also a scene that runs in the middle of the end credits that references other movies based on Marvel Comics characters.

Still, I love The Marvels. I have not subscribed to Disney+, and I only saw the fifth and sixth episodes of the Ms. Marvels miniseries when it was aired on the ABC broadcast network in early September (2023). I love The Marvels because I can figure out what is going on without having seen everything else it references. If I really want to know more, I can read Wikipedia summaries of the Disney+ series that I have not seen.

The Marvels is marvelously enjoyable. It is a science fiction adventure comedy that makes a comedy of physical errors out of every fight. It's more like Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) than it is like any other Marvel film. Director Nia DaCosta and her co-writers take time to develop the relationship between Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. Also, giving so much time to Kamala family: her mother, Muneeba Khan (Zenobia Shroff); her father, Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur); and her older brother, Aamir Khan (Saagar Shaikh), gives the film a human element that keeps the sci-fi, outer space weirdness of The Marvels from entirely taking over the narrative. Yes, the plot is a bit scattershot, but The Marvels is kinetic and packs a lot energy in its fight and action scenes.

The Marvels also gives us a lighter, funnier side of Nick Fury, and, the delights of Goose, the cat-like “Flerken” alien is multiplied this time. Dar-Benn turns out to be one of the more ruthless and interesting of the MCU's recent villains. And if that isn't enough, The Marvels has one of the MCU's best (if not the best) extra credit scenes. The Marvels is refreshingly short, and while it is more loose than cohesive, it does remind me of one thing. Every trip to the world of Marvel Studios' films is an out of this world experience.

[The film includes one extra-credits scenes that takes place during the middle of the credits (mid-credits).]

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, November 10, 2023

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Monday, October 16, 2023

A "Star Wars" Link-o-Rama 2023 by Negromancer - Update #22

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon.

NEWS AND RUMORS:

WILLOW - From Deadline: Warwick Davis, star of the (maybe) cancelled Disney+ series, "Willow," is embarrassed that the series has been removed from Disney+. The series is based on the beloved 1988 Ron Howard film, Willow.

FRANCHISE - From Deadline: In a new licensing deal, all 11 live-action "Star Wars" movies will be available on Disney's linear networks, including ABC (broadcast) and FX nets and Freeform (cable). Warner Bros. Discovery's Turner networks will also continue to carry the movies.

ROGUE ONE - From THR: Gareth Edwards, the director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, says that there is so much inaccuracy on the Internet about its making. For instance, Edwards says that HE directed the Darth Vader corridor scenes that comes at the end of the film's last act.

COMICS - From BleedingCool: Marvel Comics "Star Wars" comic book solicitations for December 2023

LANDO - From Variety: The "Lando" TV series that Donald Glover (who played Lando Calrissian in the film, "Solo: A Star Wars Story") and his brother, Stephen Glover, are developing will now be a film.

LUCASFILM - From Variety: Disney-owned Lucasfilm/ Industrial Light & Magic is to close its VFX and animation facility in Singapore, where more than 300 people are employed.

EMMYS - From StarWars: At the 2023 / 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, four Disney+ Lucasfilm series received a total of 23 nominations in 21 total categories: the dramas: "Andor," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," and "The Mandalorian," and the documentary series, "Light & Magic." The winners will be announced Monday, September 18th.

BOBA FETT - From CBR: According to inside sources, a season two of the Lucasfilm Disney+ series, "The Book of Boba Fett," is not happening.

AHSOKA - From Deadline: The Lucasfilm series, "Star Wars: Ahsoka," will begin streaming on Disney+ August 23rd.

OBI-WAN - From CBR: Fellow cast member, Vivien Lyra Blair (young "Princess Leia") says that actor Ewan McGregor is begging for a second season of the Lucasfilm Disney+ series, "Obi-Wan."

SKELETON CREW - From CBR: The Disney+ series, "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew," will supposedly have 8 episodes. This series may debut in November or December of 2023.

OBIT - From THR: There has been a death in the "Star Wars" family. Irish film and television actor, Ray Stevenson, has died at the age of 58. He provided the voice of the animated character, "Gar Saxon," in two episodes of Season 3 episodes of "Star Wars: Rebels" (2016-17) and two episodes in Season 7 of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2020). He is scheduled to appear posthumously in the Lucasfilm Disney+ series, "Ahsoka."

ROGUE ONE - From CBR: "Andor" showrunner, Tony Gilroy, says that there is no "director's cut" or alternate version of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

STAR WARS CELEBRATION - From Deadline: The "Star Wars Celebration" event hits London with big news, including a new series of films set 15 years after "The Rise of Skywalker" with Daisy Ridley in the lead.

AHSOKA - From THR: The Disney+/Lucasfilm series, "Ahsoka," has its first trailer. The series debuts August 2023.

SECRET PROJECT - From Deadline: Lucasfilm’s top-secret Star Wars movie to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has lost its screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.

From Deadline: Steven Knight is the new screenwriter on Lucasfilm’s top-secret "Star Wars" movie to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, which lost its original screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.

SKELETON CREW - From THR: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, who won three Oscars for their film, "Everything Everywhere All at Once," have reportedly directed at least one episode of the Jude Law-led "Star Wars" series, "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew."

COMICS - From BleedingCool: A list and information on all the "Star Wars" comic books coming from Marvel Comics in June 2023.

ORIGINAL TRILOGY - From CBR: Jon Favreau, executive producer and creator of Disney+/Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian," says that he believes that there is not enough demand for a theatrical re-release of the original theatrical versions of "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back," and "Return of the Jedi."

FUTURE - From Variety: The planned "Star Wars" films by Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige, and "Wonder Woman" director, Patty Jenkins, are no longer in active development.

ANDOR - From Variety: Star Diego Luna talks about the final season of the Disney+ series, "Andor, "and about his possible future in the "Star Wars" universe.

COMICS - From BleedingCool: Arrving May 2023, "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Lando #1" is a one-shot that finds Lando Calrissian working for Jabba the Hutt.

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STAR WARS Movie Reviews:

From Negromancer: "Star Wars"
From Negromancer: "The Empire Strikes Back"
From Negromancer: "Return of the Jedi"

From Negromancer: "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"

From Negromancer: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens
From Negromancer: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
From Negromancer: "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"

From Negromancer: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2008 animated film)
From Negromancer: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
From Negromancer: "Solo: A Star Wars Story"

I Reads You "Star Wars Central" comics and graphic novel review page is here.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Review: "JOHN WICK: Chapter 4" is Too Long, But Keanu is Still Hot

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 42 of 2023 (No. 1931) by Leroy Douresseaux

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Running time: 169 minutes (2 hours, 49 minutes)

MPA – R for pervasive strong violence and some language

DIRECTOR: Chad Stahelski

WRITERS: Shay Hatten and Michael Finch (based on characters created by Derek Kolstad)

PRODUCERS: Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Lausten (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Nathan Orloff

COMPOSERS: Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard

ACTION/THRILLER/CRIME

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Bill Skarsgard, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Ian McShane, Clancy Brown, Marko Zaror, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Aimée Kwan, George Georgiou, and Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a 2023 action and crime-thriller starring Keanu Reeves and directed by Chad Stahelski. It is a direct sequel to 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and is the fourth film in the John Wick film series. Chapter 4 finds John Wick facing off against a new enemy who has powerful alliances around the world and who can turn John's friends into John enemies.

John Wick: Chapter 4 finds the legendary assassin and hitman, John Wick (Keanu Reeves), hiding in the underground lair of the crime lord known as “The Bowery King” (Laurence Fishburne). Wick prepares to unleash his revenge against the High Table (the entity that rules the assassins guild) and its current “Elder.” In response, the High Table tasks one of its members, the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard), to kill John Wick. The Table gives the Marquis unlimited resources to kill John, and the first thing he does is punish Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the New York Continental hotel, for failing to kill Wick.

The Marquis puts a twenty-million dollar bounty on John Wick's head, and then, enlists Caine (Donnie Yen), a blind, retired High Table assassin, to kill his Wick, who is an old friend of John's. Despite all the Marquis' machinations, John Wick has devised a plan to defeat him and to be freed of the High Table. To do that, John will need help from a number of erstwhile friends and allies and also from one strange new friend or enemy, The Tracker a.k.a. “Mr. Nobody” (Shamier Anderson), and his resourceful dog.

I have been a long time fan of actor Keanu Reeves. I have enjoyed and even loved Reeves in films like the original Point Break (1991) and in The Matrix film trilogy, beginning with The Matrix (1999).

Thus, I was very interested in seeing the original John Wick (2014), but I didn't see it in a theater. I was interested in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), but I didn't see those in a theater, either. I was very interested in seeing John Wick: Chapter 4, but I was put off by its runtime. So I didn't see it in a movie theater.

Now, I've seen it, and I'm glad I waited. I would have been pissed to sit in an uncomfortable movie theater seat for almost three hours for the way-too-long John Wick: Chapter 4. Most of the film's narrative is story padding, and the filmmakers could have easily shaved an hour from this film's runtime without really changing the story. I will say that Chapter 4 is a beautiful-looking film. The cinematography, production design, locations, and lighting are museum quality. Yes, the action and fight scenes are spectacular, but some of them, like the entire “Arc de Triomphe” car chase and fight, went on for far too long – for all their inventiveness.

But I love me some Keanu Reeves, and because he dominates this film, I can enjoy it. I couldn't stop watching him. If just about anyone else were the star, I would have stopped watching John Wick: Chapter 4 after an hour. The supporting cast also helped me enjoy a movie that I basically did not find as enjoyable as the series' previous entries. I can never get enough of the great Hong Kong actor and martial artist, Donnie Yen, and I'm always down for more Laurence Fishburne. Shamier Anderson and the dog that is his co-star add some nice new flavors to this series. Bill Skarsgard is magnetic as the Marquis, and a spoonful of Clancy Brown (as “the Harbinger”) helps the average movie go down. Also, it was great to see the late Lance Reddick (1962-2023) as Charon one last time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a fifth John Wick movie down the line, and I won't see it in a theater either – if the runtime is around three hours. But for John Wick fans, John Wick: Chapter 4 is a must-see for the main reason to see all of them – Keanu Reeves.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

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Friday, August 18, 2023

Review: "BLUE BEETLE" is a Family Affair

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2023 (No. 1927) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blue Beetle (2023)

Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, language, and some suggestive references

DIRECTOR: Angel Manuel Soto

WRITER: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (based on characters from DC Comics)

PRODUCERS: Zev Foreman and John Rickard

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Pawel Pogorzelski (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Craig Alpert

COMPOSER: The Haxan Cloak

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION/FAMILY

Starring: Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Damien Alcazar, Adriana Barraza, Belissa Escobedo, Elpidia Carrillo, Raoul Max Trujillo, Modesto Lacen, and Harvey Guillén, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, and (voice) Becky G

Blue Beetle is a 2023 superhero and action-fantasy film directed by Ángel Manuel Soto. The film is based on the DC Comics character, Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes, that was created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner and first appeared in the comic book, Infinite Crisis #3 (cover dated: February 2006). Blue Beetle the movie focuses on a young man who finds himself chosen to be the symbiotic host of an alien artifact that gives him a suit of armor.

Blue Beetle introduces recent college graduate, Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena), who is returning to his hometown of Palmera City. He receives a warm welcome from his family: his father, Alberto Reyes (Damian Alcazar); his mother, Rocio Reyes (Elpidia Carrillo); his Nana (Adrian Barraza), his younger sister, Milagro (Belissa Escobedo); and his uncle, Rudy Reyes (George Lopez). Jaime soon learns that his family will lose their home due to financial difficulties and to Alberto's poor health. Still, Jaime is optimistic that he will quickly get a job and make enough money for his family.

Some time later, Jaime meets Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), the daughter of Ted Kord, the currently-missing CEO OF Kord Industries. Jenny is at odds with her aunt, Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), the current CEO. Jenny discovers that Victoria has dark plans for her recent discovery, an alien artifact called “the Scarab.” Jenny steals the Scarab, and not knowing its true nature, she passes it on to Jaime.

As soon as Jaime touches the Scarab, it activates and attaches to him, creating a suit of armor around him. The suit gives Jaime extraordinary powers, such as flight, super-strength, and invulnerability, but those powers are unpredictable. Now, Jaime's family calls him a “superhero.” However, Jaime isn't sure that he wants to be a superhero, and Victoria Kord will do whatever she has to do – including murder – to regain possession of the Scarab.

The Blue Beetle first appeared in Fox Comics' Mystery Men Comics #1 (cover dated: August 1939) and was the secret identity of a young police officer, Dan Garrett. The second Blue Beetle first appeared in Charlton Comics' Captain Atom #83 (November 1966) and was Ted Kord, an industrialist and owner of KORD Industries. I mention this because Dan Garrett is referenced in this film. Also, Ted Kord, with a new origin, is a major subplot in this film, although the story is that he has been missing for years under mysterious circumstances.

However, this is Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes' film. He comes across as a normal young man in his early twenties. Warner Bros. didn't even cast some muscular young android-like actor for the role. Xolo Mariduena's body is in good shape, but he looks more like a high school kid still in physical development. Everything about Xolo comes across as boy-next-door, which makes him more relatable to a larger segment of the audience. After all, Jaime seems so vulnerable that even an alien suit of armor doesn't seem capable of completely protecting him. If there is a superhero of the people – the champion next door – Xolo makes Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle fit the role perfectly.

Like Warner Bros.'s 2019 DC Comics film, Shazam, Blue Beetle emphasizes family, and the Reyes are delightful. George Lopez's Uncle Rudy is a scene stealer, and I'm glad the story reveals that there is so much more to him than meets the eye. Of course, one can judge how good a family is by placing it in contrast with a problematic family, and that is the Kords. Susan Sarandon plays the evil aunt, Victoria Kord, with relish, although she doesn't really go over the top. The film puts Jenny Kord, smoothly played by actress Bruna Marquezine, at the center of the good family (the Reyes)-bad family (Victoria Kord) dynamic. Which will Jenny ultimately choose? Like Shazam, Blue Beetle shows how cool an extended or surrogate family can be, especially to someone in need.

I like what director Angel Manuel Soto does with his collaborators, cast, and crew. Blue Beetle is an easy-going superhero film that is fun for a family audience, even with the sometimes intense action and dark plot elements. I'm surprised that the film has as its themes, “imperialism in the name of democracy” and “militarized capitalism,” neither of which are ever portrayed as a good thing. Uncle Rudy even calls Batman a “fascist,” which has caused a stir in some Internet circles. This film definitely has an anti-authoritarian streak.

That aside, Blue Beetle is hugely and surprisingly entertaining, and it sparkles with humor. By focusing on Jaime Reyes as much as it does on the Blue Beetle armor, the film gets to center on the most winning aspect of it story, family and friends. Blue Beetle won't get the attention of bigger superhero film productions, but it has more heart than most of those other films.

[Blue Beetle has two extra scenes during the end credits.]

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, August 18, 2023

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Friday, July 14, 2023

Review: "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - Dead Reckoning Part One" Embraces the Impossible

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2023 (No. 1921) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Running time: 163 minutes (2 hours, 43 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 intense sequences of violence and action, some language and suggestive material

DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie

WRITERS: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)

PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fraser Taggart (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton

COMPOSER: Loren Balfe

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Frederick Schmidt, Maria Garriga, Cary Elwes, and Henry Czerny

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise. It is the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible film series, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller. In Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team race to obtain half of a key that is connected to something that could be a doomsday device.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in the Bering Sea. Beneath the surface, an advanced Russian submarine, the “Sevastopol,” prepares to test a new AI (artificial intelligence) system. But disaster strikes.

Later, Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), the director of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), offers IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) a new mission. Should he accept, Hunt must retrieve half of a mysterious cruciform key. It is currently in the possession of his ally, the former British agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who also has had a 50-million-dollar bounty placed on her.

Next, Hunt and his team – Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames) – must trace the current holder of the second half of that cruciform key to a buyer. However, the mission is complicated by the intercession of new players: Grace (Hayley Atwell), a professional thief; Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), a black-market arms dealers also known as the “White Widow;” and Paris (Pom Klementieff), a French assassin. The most shocking new player is Paris' boss, Gabriel (Esai Morales), a powerful terrorist with an intimate connection to Ethan Hunt's past. Ethan and his IMF team clash with these new people in a struggle for a key that is connected to something that could rule the world or destroy it, The Entity.

I divide the six Mission: Impossible movies into two trilogies. Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), and Mission: Impossible III (2006) make up the first trilogy. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) form the second trilogy.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is something new. It was originally meant to be the first part of a two-part send off for Ethan Hunt, but that has apparently changed. Still, Dead Reckoning Part One feels like the beginning of the end. It's as if Ethan is facing his ultimate test, a mission in which most of the potential resolutions can make things worse for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Honestly, this feels like a mission in which Ethan should not survive.

That aside, should you choose to accept this mission, dear readers, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a non-stop thrill machine full of heart-pounding races, car chases, standoffs, and Tom Cruise running more than he ever has. I balked at the runtime of two hours and forty-three minutes, but the film doesn't feel that long. It's always moving and grooving to a electrifying pace. The plot is a bit thin, and even that thinness manages to be a bit convoluted, but Dead Reckoning Part One moves too much to allow you to think about any inconsistencies. Why think about plot when the action and thrills are so mesmerizing and exhilarating? I had seen several video clips of Ethan Hunt's motorcycle cliff dive, which is the super-big stunt in Dead Reckoning Part One, but seeing the entire thing on the big, silver screen still made me nervous. That's the peak power of the extravagant action movie treats that this film offers.

Dead Reckoning Part One has beautiful cinematography and a hypnotic, pounding film score, and killer production values. Everyone is dressed so nicely, and all the sets put the art in art direction. The cast is amazing, and I couldn't get enough of Pom Klementieff's Paris. But the stars here are true movie star, Tom Cruise, and director Christopher McQuarrie. They wanted to give people a reason to come back to movie theaters, and they have. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the kind of high-quality and breath-taking entertainment that demands to be seen in a darkened movie theater with a bunch of other people as equally thrilled as you or I are.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 15, 2023

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Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Review: "65" is Lean, Mean, and Much Better Than I Expected

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2023 (No. 1919) by Leroy Douresseaux

65 (2023)

Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for intense sci-fi action and peril, and brief bloody images

WRITERS/DIRECTORS: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

PRODUCERS: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Sam Raimi, Zainab Azizi, Deborah Liebling,

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Salvatore Totino

EDITORS: Josh Schaeffer and Jane Tones

COMPOSER: Chris Bacon with Danny Elfman

SCI-FI, ACTION, THRILLER

Starring: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, and Nika King

65 is a science fiction action-thriller film from writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The film focuses on a pilot and a young girl who fight for survival after their starship crashes on a mysterious planet.

65 opens on Planet Somaris. There, a spaceship pilot, Mills (Adam Driver), convinces his wife, Alya (Nika King), that he should take on a two-year space expedition to earn the money needed to treat their daughter, Nevine (Chloe Coleman), who is suffering from a deadly illness.

Later, Zoic Exploratory Charter 3703 is deep into its journey when it is hit by a mass of asteroids and crash-lands on an alien planet. The Zoic is damaged beyond repair, and Mills discovers that all the ship's passengers, except one, have been killed. The other survivor is a young girl named Koa (Arianna Greenblatt), and she does not speak the same language as Mills. Meanwhile, Mills has sent a distress beacon, and he has also discovered that the spaceship's escape shuttle is still functioning. However, it is 15 kilometers away (a little over nine miles), resting on the side of a mountain.

Now, Mills and Koa must track across an unknown landscape that they discover is home to dangerous and aggressive creatures. What the duo doesn't know is that this planet is actually Earth 65 million years ago, and the animals are dinosaurs. Plus, another danger has followed Mills and Koa from space.

Once upon a time, 65 would have been referred to as a “high concept film,” which is a movie with a premise that can be easily pitched or summarized. 65 is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the duo who wrote the initial story and screenplay that became the 2018 hit film, A Quiet Place, a high concept film.

65 turned out not to be the hit that A Quiet Place was, but I found it to be a hugely entertaining film. Yes, it shares elements with another film about humans from another planet, crash landing on Earth, After Earth (2013), and also, Pitch Black (2000), which finds humans stranded on a mysterious planet and facing monsters. Still, Beck and Woods have so tightly written and directed 65 that I found myself enjoying it even when I was questioning its plot and narrative choices. For instance, the human characters seem surprisingly unsophisticated considering they come from a race that possesses the technology to span the stars. Also, Mills uses tech that can track objects in space, but it doesn't have a simple translation app?

The intense dinosaur attacks really don't start until after the 38-minute mark of the film, and I think that serves the story well. First, this gives the directors and the cast the opportunity to gradually depict the growing bond between Mills and Koa. Secondly, making the audience wait for the baddest and the biggest dinosaurs can create a sense of anticipation that is satisfied when the most awesome “thunder lizards” finally arrive.

Some of 65's plot and action stretches credulity past the breaking point, but this movie is a pop corn thriller that would be a great choice for a movie night. For families with children, this film is appropriate for teens, but it is a little too dark and violent and has adult subject matter that is a bit much for elementary school age and maybe even middle school age children. I love it and give it an unqualified recommendation. I plan on watching it again, and truthfully, I'm curious about the world/universe in which this film is set. 65 is not a 10, but as far as dinosaur movies go, I found it more fun and entertaining than Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

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Friday, June 30, 2023

Review: "INDIANA JONES and the Dial of Destiny" is a Wonderful Final Adventure

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 of 2023 (No. 1918) by Leroy Douresseaux

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (1989)

Running time: 154 minutes (2 hours, 34 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, language and smoking

DIRECTOR: James Mangold

WRITERS: Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp & James Mangold (based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman)

PRODUCERS: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Simon Emanuel

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phedon Papamichael (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker, and Dick Westervelt

COMPOSER: John Williams

ADVENTURE/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Antonino Banderas, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Olivier Richters, Ethann Isidore, Nasser Memarzia, Karen Allen, and John Rhys-Davies,

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a 2023 action-adventure film directed by James Mangold. It is the fifth entry in the “Indiana Jones” film franchise that began with the 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dial of Destiny finds Indiana Jones racing to retrieve a legendary artifact from a Nazi who wants change the course of history.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens in 1944, deep inside Europe during the Allied liberation of World War II. Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford) and his colleague and fellow archaeologist, Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), are both captured by Nazis while attempting to retrieve “the Lance of Longinus.” This relic is also known as the “Spear of Destiny,” the lance that is alleged to have pierced the side of Jesus Christ. Adolf Hitler believes it can save him and his dying Third Reich.

However, Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) believes that he has found part of the relic that can save the Nazis, the “Antikythera”or “Archimedes's Dial,” a device created by the ancient Greek mathematician, Archimedes, Voller believes that if he can make the device whole it is capable of locating fissures in time. As usual, Indiana Jones foils the Nazis.

A quarter-century later, in August 1969, Jones is retiring from his position as a professor and instructor at Hunter College. He is approached by Helena “Wombat” Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Jones' goddaughter and Basil Shaw's daughter. She has come looking for the Dial, but she isn't the only one. A Nazi ghost from Indiana Jones' past also wants to retrieve the Dial and to find its missing half. Can Indiana Jones, now an old man, find the will for one more adventure to save the world from Nazi machinations? Can he really trust his own goddaughter's motivations?

In preparation for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I recently watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in its entirety for the first time in over two decades. I have seen the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, countless times, and I re-watched its follow-up, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), in November of last year (2022). I have watched the fourth film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), many times since its release.

I am happy to report that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the best Indiana Jones since Temple of Doom. It is a bit long and drags in the middle, but when it is time to deliver the old-fashioned Indiana Jones thrills, this film brings it with renewed freshness. The two street chases, one in New York and one in Tangier, Morocco, kept me on the edge of my seat. Indiana Jones on a horse tearing through the streets and subways of NYC is every bit as good as it could be.

Dial of Destiny is also blessed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw. The script presents a very well conceived and executed character, and Bridge turns her into a character that can match Indiana Jones step for step. Hers is not the only high-quality supporting character, but this film could not work without Waller-Bridge playing Shaw the way she does.

The best Indiana Jones villains are the Nazis, and Mads Mikkelsen as Voller and Boyd Holbrook as Klaber, Voller's crazy and homicidal lackey, gives us Nazis worthy of not only being punched, but also of being killed. It's good to see that the Indiana Jones franchise makes Nazis plainly and clearly evil. There isn't any “good people on both sides here” double talk in this movie.

No, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas do not return for Dial of Destiny, being listed in the credits as “executive producers.” James Mangold has replaced Spielberg as director, and he does a much better job with this film than I expected. Lucas has co-written the story for the previous films doesn't for this one, but the spirit of adventure and mystery he first imagined decades ago is strong in Dial of Destiny.

I understand that some viewers may be put off by the age of Dial of Destiny's star and title character. I like that Dial of Destiny does not hesitate to grapple with Indiana Jones' age and about the grief and regret that have become a big part of his life. It is nice to see returning supporting characters, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), although it is a bit off-putting not seeing them so much older. Still, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, with its themes of time and tide, of change, of new eras, of aging, of a hero in the sunset of his life, offers a perfect good-bye to a beloved hero. It says that there is still a story to tell, but the story we followed for so long … well, that's over.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, June 30, 2023

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Friday, June 23, 2023

Review: Miller, Keaton Speed "THE FLASH" Forward

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2023 (No. 1915) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Flash (2023)

Running time: 144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity

DIRECTOR: Andy Muschietti

WRITERS: Christina Hodson; from a screen story by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Joby Harold (based on the DC Comics characters)

PRODUCERS: Barbara Muschietti and Michael Disco

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Henry Braham

EDITORS: Jason Ballantine and Paul Machliss

COMPOSER: Benjamin Wallfisch

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdu, Kiesey Clemons, Antje Traue Temuera Morrison, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Jason Momoa, and Jeremy Irons

The Flash is a 2023 superhero and action-fantasy film directed by Andy Muschietti. The film is based on the DC Comics character, The Flash, with the two most famous versions being created by the teams of writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert and writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino. The film is the 13th entry in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). In The Flash, the superhero known as “the fastest man alive” uses his super-speed to change his family's tragic past, but also creates a world without superheroes.

The Flash opens at a very important time in the life of Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller). His father, Henry Allen (Ron Livingston), has been imprisoned, wrongfully convicted for murdering his wife and Ezra's mother, Nora Allen (Maribel Verdu). As a police forensic investigator for the Central City Police Department, Barry has been using his knowledge and connections in a bid to free his father, whose next appeal of his conviction is a day away.

However, Barry's superhero life intrudes, so he races to Gotham City where he helps Batman (Ben Affleck) stop a terrorist group. After that, the Flash visits his childhood home. Overcome by his emotions, Barry starts running so fast that he does not realize that his power, super-speed, has tapped into the “Speed Force” to such an extent that he has traveled back in time. Although Batman's alter-ego, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), warns him against doing so, the Flash travels back in time, again.

He returns to the day his mother was murdered and changes events in order to save her life, and the thing about which Bruce warned Barry occurs, the unintended consequences of time travel. Soon, Barry comes face to face with his younger self, college-age Barry (Ezra Miller). Not long afterwards, Barry learns that his big change to the past has also created an Earth without superheroes. As an alien threat looms, the two Barrys seek out the one superhero everyone knows exists – or at least once existed, Batman. However, this Earth's Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) does not want to be Batman again, even if it dooms the world.

When I first heard of the premise of The Flash, I knew that Warner Bros. Pictures wanted to make its on version of Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios' multiverse adventure, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Unlike this very sharp Spider-Man flick, The Flash is not as crisp and as efficient. The Flash's action scenes are always at least a minute too long and too overdone. The drama is a bit too melodramatic, sometimes in danger of being corny. Still, director Andy Muschietti and his editors offer a film that is often quite engaging, thrilling, and entertaining.

I believe that the persons that really carry The Flash are first, Ezra Miller as The Flash/Barry Allen and as younger Barry Allen and second, Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne. This time around Ezra offers a superhero and alter-ego that are both far less annoying and forced than they were in Joss Whedon's 2016 superhero film, Justice League. Miller is so good at portraying two versions of Barry that they seem like distinctly different people and personalities. Here, Miller's Flash is more like a quirky character than in Justice League, where he seemed like bad character writing and a resulting confused and awkward performance. Sadly, Miller's legal problems may keep them from portraying the Flash again, which is a shame. They have finally got a bead on how to play that kind of character in a way that makes him endearing.

To a slightly lesser extent, Michael Keaton also carries this film. His Batman/Bruce Wayne is one of the most famous iterations of the character, having appeared in director Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Keaton revives the beats of the way he played the character over three decades ago, while adding a lot of new flavors to his character and new engagement in his performance. After this appearance, I would really like to see more of Keaton's Batman.

Ben Affleck also makes a really nice turn as the “DCEU Batman/Bruce Wayne.” Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl gives a performance that makes the character seem shoe-horned into this film. And there are some delightful cameos from other actors and characters that have appeared in DC Comics-related film and television series. Plus, there is a surprise appearance from another cinematic Batman. As I have said, however, Ezra Miller and Michael Keaton put a light-speed jolt into The Flash. I found The Flash entertaining, but I'm giving it the grade I am because of Miller and Keaton.

[The Flash has one scene at the end of the credits.]

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, June 23, 2023

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