NEGROMANCER 2.0: Action

Showing posts with label Action. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Review: "LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY" is in the Sky with Diamonds

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 of 2023 (No. 1930) by Leroy Douresseaux

Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta – original Japanese title

Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki

WRITER: Hayao Miyazaki

PRODUCER: Isao Takahata

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hirokata Takahashi

EDITORS: Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshihiro Kasahara, and Takeshi Seyama

COMPOSER: Joe Hisaishi

ANIMATION/FANTASY and ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: (voices) Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada, Fujio Tokita, Ichiro Nagai, and Hiroshi Ito

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is a 1986 Japanese animated, action-adventure fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Laputa is also the first film fully produced by the Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli. In North America, the film is known simply as Castle in the Sky, the title by which I will refer to it in this review. Castle in the Sky follows the adventures of a young boy and girl who must race against time, pirates, and foreign agents in a bid to find a legendary island that floats in the sky.

Castle in the Sky opens on an airship. Aboard the aircraft is a young girl, Sheeta (Mayumi Tanaka), an orphan girl abducted by the government agent, Colonel Muska (Minori Terada). The airship is attacked by Captain Dola (Kotoe Hatsui) and her gang, “the Dola Pirates” (all of whom are apparently her sons). Dola is seeking Sheeta's necklace, which holds a small orb made of pure “etherium” crystal. Attempting to escape, Sheeta falls from the airship, but is saved by the magic of etherium in the now-glowing crystal, which lowers her slowly to the ground.

On the ground, Sheeta is caught by a young boy, Pazu (Keiko Yokozawa). Soon, Pazu is on a mission to protect Sheeta from both Dola and Muska. Pazu and Sheeta's goal is to reach the mythical flying island, “Laputa,” which is connected to both children's past, but in different ways. The mystery of Laputa is what exactly is it – a paradise, a treasure trove, or something dangerous.

I have previously reviewed the following Miyazaki-directed films: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), and The Wind Rises (2013). As Netflix is shutting down its DVD-by-mail division, I am hoping to get to the Miyazaki films that I have not previously watched. This is the first time I've watched Castle in the Sky.

For me, the most wonderful thing about Castle in the Sky is that it is steeped in Hayao Miyazaki's affinity for flight, a theme that dominates many of his films. He fills this film with wonderful flying contraptions, such as the government's flying fortress, “Goliath,” and the Dola pirates' airship, “Tiger Moth.” Even the robots of Laputa can become wonderful flying machines. As with many of Miyazaki's films, Castle in the Sky is breathtaking, visually stunning, and mind-blowing, especially when the narrative takes to the air.

One of the film's most dominant themes is the innocence of children, as seen through the eyes of Pazu and Sheeta. That shows in the two characters' resilience and determination in the face of constant turmoil and ceaseless obstacles. Their relationship is the counterbalance to the film's darker elements, especially its focus on on humanity's relationship with nature and with technology. Most of the film displays technology in harmony with nature, taking place in a fantasy version of the nineteenth century. There is a “retro-future” aesthetic that finds a balance between mankind's technological creations and the natural world at large. Castle in the Sky would go on to have a strong influence on the then emerging science fiction sub-genre known as “steampunk.”

I believe that if you, dear readers, have never seen a Miyazaki film, the first one you watch will validate the great things you may have heard about him. When you see your second Miyazaki, you will certainly become a true believer. Castle in the Sky is the kind of animated film that will make just about any movie fan a true believer in Hayao Miyazaki. It is one of the greatest adventure films ever made, and one of the greatest animated films of all time. Castle in the Sky mixes vivid imagination, eye-popping inventiveness, and stunning beauty in a way only the best animated films do. Every frame of this film belongs on a wall in a museum. If it were a Disney animated feature, Disney would call Laputa: Castle in the Sky an instant classic. It certainly is a classic.

10 of 10

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

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Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Review: "THE EQUALIZER 2" is Brutal and Personal

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 of 2023 (No. 1929) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Equalizer 2 (2018)

Running time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)

MPAA – R for brutal violence throughout, language, and some drug content

DIRECTOR: Antoine Fuqua

WRITER: Richard Wenk (based on the television series created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim)

PRODUCERS: Antoine Fuqua, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Tony Eldridge, Mace Neufeld, Alex Siskin, Michael Sloan, Steve Tisch, and Denzel Washington

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Oliver Wood (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Conrad Buff IV

COMPOSER: Harry Gregson-Williams

ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER

Starring: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Orson Bean, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Jonathan Scarfe, Kazy Tauginas, Garrett A. Golden, and Sakina Jaffrey

The Equalizer 2 is a 2018 action movie and crime thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington. It is a sequel to the 2014 film, The Equalizer.” Both films are based on the television series, “The Equalizer,” which was created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim and was originally broadcast on CBS from 1985 to 1989. The Equalizer 2 finds Robert McCall out to make the people who murdered someone he loves pay for their crimes with their lives.

The Equalizer 2 opens on a train headed to Istanbul, Turkey. Robert “Bob” McCall (Denzel Washington) is about to serve his unflinching brand of justice on man who kidnapped his daughter in order to punish his ex-wife. McCall still lives quietly in Boston, where he works as a Lyft driver and assists the less fortunate, the exploited, and the oppressed. Among the people he is currently helping include Samuel “Sam” Rubinstein (Orson Bean), a Holocaust survivor trying to recover a painting of his sister, Magda, who died in a Nazi death camp. Lately, he has taken an interest in Miles (Ashton Sanders), a troubled African-American teen who lives in the same apartment building. Miles has tremendous artistic talent, but he is also being recruited by a violent, drug-dealing street gang.

However, the big action is in Brussels, Belgium. There, Robert's friend and former DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) colleague, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), is investigating the apparent murder-suicide of DIA “agency affiliate” and his wife. That investigation costs Susan her life. McCall begins investigating Susan's murder with the assistance of her colleague and his former DIA teammate, Dave York (Pedro Pascal). Determined to avenge Susan's murder, McCall will have to go deep into his past and risk endangering people very close to him.

With his Oscar-winning turn in 2001's Training Day, Denzel Washington proved to be a convincing bad guy. With 2010's The Book of Eli, Washington showed that he could be a bad-ass, kick-ass, action hero with fancy martial arts-styled moves. The first take on The Equalizer allowed Washington to blend hero and anti-hero in a visceral mix. So in anticipation of The Equalizer 3, I decided to see The Equalizer 2, of which I have seen bits and pieces on television over the past few years.

In the original film, the screenplay by Richard Wenk had McCall constantly in peril or made it seem as if he were in danger even when he was not. Wenk returns for the sequel and delivers a script that adds compassion to the standard revenge thriller. McCall can be a gentle soul helping a teen go through growing pains that are filled with danger, and he can lend a kind ear to an old man whose current quest could be the real thing or the result of a failing memory crashing from the accumulation of data over a long life. On the other hand, McCall will also break a mutha down to the blood and bone if he deserves such a reckoning, even if it means killing him.

The Equalizer would be a standard revenge thriller if its avenger were portrayed by just any other movie star, but Denzel Washington is a consummate professional and charismatic actor. That means he can deliver the meat and potatoes and the art to every performance – whether it is Shakespeare on stage or Hollywood entertainment product destined for the multiplex. In this second film, Washington super-charges his performance in order to make the personal so personal that it is murderous.

Director Antoine Fuqua plays Washington's skills for everything he can get out of this brilliant actor. Fuqua is an impressive director in his own right, especially when it comes to dark, violent, dramatic thrillers, such as Shooter (2007). Together, Fuqua and Washington deliver in The Equalizer 2 a film that slightly surpasses the original. I find myself endlessly fascinated by it because The Equalizer 2 is a really good thriller.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

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Sunday, August 27, 2023

Review: "TENET" May Have Been 2020's Best Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2023 (No. 1928) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tenet (2020)

Running time: 150 minutes (2 hours, 30 minutes)

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

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan

PRODUCERS: Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hoyte Van Hoytema (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jennifer Lame

COMPOSER: Ludwig Goransson

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/ACTION/SPY

Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dimple Kapadia, Himesh Patel, Denzil Smith, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Clémency Poséy, Fiona Dourif, Laurie Shepherd, Martin Donovan, and Kenneth Branagh and Michael Caine

Tenet is a 2020 science fiction, secret agent, and action-thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film, Nolan's eleventh as a director, is a co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States. Tenet focuses on a CIA operative on a mission to save the world, armed with only one word, “Tenet.”

Tenet introduces a CIA operative known only as "The Protagonist" (John David Washington). The Protagonist leads a covert CIA extraction during a staged terrorist siege at the National Opera House in Kyiv., Ukraine. After he is injured and the mission goes badly, the Protagonist is recruited by a secretive organization known only by the word, “Tenet.” He is told that with a gesture, Tenet can “open the right doors and the wrong doors.”

He is briefed about bullets with “inverted” entropy that move backwards through time. It seems that the man who possesses the technology to invert entropy is a Russian oligarch named Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh). The technology has been given to Sator from mysterious forces in the future, and those forces are also sending Sator the pieces of something called the “Algorithm,” which is a threat to the present world.

Suddenly, the Protagonist finds himself surrounded by a menagerie of people he cannot quite trust or really know. That includes the Mumbai-based arms dealer, Priya Singh (Dimple Kapadia), and Sator's estranged and abused wife, Katherine “Kat” Barton (Elizabeth Debicki). Another is Ives (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Tenet military commander. Most mysterious of all is Neil (Robert Pattinson), who is supposed to be the Protagonist's “handler” from Tenet, and Neil seems to know the Protagonist in ways he does not know Neil. Now, the Protagonist must uncover the secrets of inversion, the secrets of the Algorithm, and perhaps, even the secrets of himself.

Christopher Nolan gained many fans for his series of films starring DC Comics' Batman, known as “The Dark Knight Trilogy”: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). However, Tenet is closer to Nolan's films such as Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), The Prestige (2006), and Inception (2010), which, like Tenet, have some combination of complex plots and character time lines, ambiguous elements, and cleverly hidden details that are open to many theories and interpretations.

Tenet freely plays with the themes of free will and determinism. Do people really have free will, or is it better that people think that they have free will? In the end, I think the narrative ultimately decides that free will and determinism are compatible, which is one of many reasons that I love this film. Many secret agent and spy films offer the illusion that the hero (or the protagonist) is in control. From the first movie in Eon Productions' “James Bond film series, Dr No (1962), the hero, James Bond, seems to have a measure of control or at least force of will to save the day or often, the world. One can say the same of Universal Pictures' “Jason Bourne” film series. It starts with The Bourne Identity (2002), and Matt Damon's Jason Bourne seems to exert free will all the more with each film, although his fate was determined and settled before the narrative of the first film begins. In Tenet, free will is a work in progress, exercised within the settled plots of determinism.

I love Tenet's cast. Either The Protagonist was tailor-made for actor John David Washington, or he was the perfect casting. I feel the same way about Robert Pattison's Neil, and Kenneth Branagh is such a fine actor that he can make any role seem like a real person. Elizabeth Debicki, honestly, is Oscar-worthy as Kat Barton, and Dimple Kapadia adds a delightful flavor as Priya Singh. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is all fire, menace, and masculinity as Ives.

I had not seen a Christopher Nolan film since Inception, although I'd planned to see Tenet in a theater. However, I was really wary of returning to movie theaters during the 2020 year of COVID-19 movie theater shutdowns, even after they reopened. In a way, that worked out. I got to savor Tenet on DVD as a way of prepping for eventually seeing his most recent film, Oppenheimer.

I like Tenet's trippy, surreal, time-shifting, inscrutable nature, and I like that Nolan is willing both to throw out a lot of ideas and to engage them. For me, it is mysterious, a mystery worth losing myself in every chance I get. As far as my opinion is concerned, Tenet is Christopher Nolan's best, most imaginative, and truly most inventive film.

10 of 10

Sunday, August 27, 2023

NOTES:

2021 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher); 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Production Design”

{Nathan Crowley-production design and Kathy Lucas-set decoration)

2021 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Lockley)

2021 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Ludwig Göransson)

2021 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Cinematography” (Hoyte Van Hoytema) and 1 nomination: “Outstanding Production Design” (Nathan Crowley)

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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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Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Review: "THE FINAL COUNTDOWN" is Still Timeless Entertainment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 of 2023 (No. 1926) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Final Countdown (1980)

Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: Don Taylor

WRITERS: David Ambrose & Gerry Davis and Thomas Hunter & Peter Powell; from a story by Thomas Hunter & Peter Powell and David Ambrose

PRODUCERS: Peter Vincent Douglas

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Vincent J. Kemper (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Robert K. Lambert

COMPOSER: John Scott

SCI-FI/MILITARY

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino, Ron O'Neal, Charles Durning, Victor Mohica, Soon-Teck Oh, and Alvin Ing

The Final Countdown is a 1980 science fiction war film from director Don Taylor. The film features an ensemble cast starring such Hollywood legends and icons as Kirk Douglas, Charles Durning, and Martin Sheen. The film focuses on the crew of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that is tossed back in time to the year 1941 near Hawaii, just a day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Final Countdown opens in 1980. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Nimitz, departs Naval Station Pearl Harbor for naval exercises in the mid-Pacific Ocean. It is commanded by Captain Matt Yelland (Kirk Douglas). The ship also takes on a civilian observer, Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen), a systems analyst for Tideman Industries. Lasky is working as an efficiency expert for the U.S. Defense Department on the orders of his reclusive employer, Richard Tideman.

Once at sea, the Nimitz encounters a mysterious, electrically-charged storm that eventually becomes a vortex. While the ship passes through the mystery storm, its radar and other equipment become unresponsive, and the crew falls into agony. After the event, Capt. Yelland and the crew are initially unsure of what has happened to them. They also discover that they have lost radio contact with U.S. Pacific Fleet Command at Pearl Harbor.

Yelland wonders if there has been a nuclear strike on Hawaii, but soon Lasky and Commander, Air Group Richard T. Owens (James Farentino) begin to suspect that they been tossed back in time to December 6, 1941. That is one day before “a day which will live in infamy,” December 7, 1941 – the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Now, comes the big questions. By itself, the Nimitz has the aircraft power to destroy the Japanese fleet. So should Yelland launch that air power and change history by stopping the attack on Pearl Harbor?

The Final Countdown is one of my all-time favorite films. I have a soft spot for time-travel movies, especially such films as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and of course, The Terminator (1984) and its sequels.

In spite of my intense love for this film – yes, I said intense – I can see its flaws. I think The Final Countdown's concept would work better as a television miniseries or even as an ongoing series. Its relatively short runtime is not enough time for the film to really be indulgent in revealing its most important character, the U.S.S. Nimitz. Director Don Taylor gives us several scenes of the planes, jets, fighter aircraft, etc., but every scene of the ship's interior makes it obvious that the film needs to take a deeper dive into the bowels of the Nimitz. All that military hardware demands more screen time, or at least, I'm the one demanding more of it.

Most of all, the time travel angle of the story seems to come and go so fast, and the screenplay does not really grapple with what would happen if Captain Yelland and his crew inserted themselves into the attack on Pearl Harbor. It glosses over that and over the many points of view that would result from the kind of command structure that a ship like the Nimitz has.

The wild card characters are Senator Samuel S. Chapman (Charles Durning) and his secretary, Laurel Scott (Katharine Ross). Their appearance in the narrative is a considerable development and creates conflict and complications in the decisions that the captain and crew of the Nimitz will make. Time constraints mean that the film doesn't really deal with these two characters.

I spotted so many cracks in this recent viewing of The Final Countdown, I still really love this film. I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite movies stars, such as Kirk Douglas (Out of the Past), Martin Sheen, and Charles Durning (To Be or Not to Be) in roles that called upon their usual film personalities. I don't think I remembered that Ron O'Neal (Super Fly, 1972) was in this film, but he gets his chance to emote and overact. I have seen this film at least three times, and this was the first time that James Farentino;s presence also registered with me.

Yes, The Final Countdown seems to be missing at least another half-hour of story, but the first time I saw it, when I was a teenager, it blew my mind. I saw it again years later, and I was surprised to find that I still loved it. I just watched The Final Countdown again, and guess what? I still love it, even adore it. That's why I'm being generous with the grade I'm giving The Final Countdown. I need a Blu-ray or DVD copy.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

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Thursday, July 27, 2023

Review: Miyazaki's "THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO" is Something Else Entirely

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 of 2023 (No. 1923) by Leroy Douresseaux

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro – original Japanese title

Running time: 102 minutes

MPAA – not rated

DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki

WRITERS: Hayao Miyazaki and Haruya Yamazaki (based upon the manga by Monkey Punch)

PRODUCER: Tetsuo Katayama

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hirokata Takahashi

EDITOR: Masatoshi Tsurubuchi

COMPOSER: Yuji Ohno

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY and ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: (English voices – Manga Entertainment dub) David Hayter, Bridget Hoffman, Kirk Thornton, Kevin Seymour, John Snyder, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Milton James, Michael Gregory, Barry Stigler, and Joe Romersa; (Japanese voices) Yasuo Yamada, Eiko Masuyama, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue, Goro Naya, Sumi Shimamoto and Taro Ishida

Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro or Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure and comic-fantasy animated from director Hayao Miyazaki. An English-language dub of the film was first theatrically released in the U.S. in 1991 under the title, The Castle of Cagliostro, the title that I will use for this review.

The Castle of Cagliostro focuses on a master thief, Lupin III. The film Lupin is based on the manga character, Lupin the Third, created by late manga artist, Kazuhiko Kato (1937-2019), who is best remembered by his pen name, Monkey Punch. In the film, a dashing thief struggles to free a princess from an evil count who needs her in order to gain a mysterious treasure.

The Castle of Cagliostro opens in Monaco. There, Master thief Lupin III (David Hayter) and his partner, Jigen (John Snyder), flee the National Casino with huge quantities of stolen money. As they will soon learn, however, the stolen bills are actually distinctive, high-quality counterfeits known as “Goat bills.” Lupin decides to seek out the source of this counterfeit money, the country known as the Duchy of Cagliostro.

Shortly after arriving, Lupin and Jigen see a young woman being chased by armed thugs. It turns out that she is Lady Clarisse de Cagliostro (Bridget Hoffman), and she is running away from her fiancé, the Count de Cagliostro (Kirk Thornton), the regent of the Duchy of Cagliostro. The Count has arranged a marriage with Lady Clarisse in order to cement his power. The marriage will also help him recover the fabled ancient treasure of Cagliostro, for which he needs both his and Clarisse's ancestral signet rings.

Lupin is determined to save Clarisse from this arranged marriage. In addition to his partner Jigen, Lupin calls in the highly-skilled martial artist and swordsman, Goemon (Michael Gregory), and the rival professional thief, Fujiko (Dorothy Elias-Fahn). Meanwhile, Inspector Zenigata of Interpol (Kevin Seymour) sees Lupin's activities in the Duchy of Cagliostro as a perfect opportunity to catch the thief he has been chasing for so long. Can Lupin rescue Clarisse? Will Count Cagliostro destroy them both? And just what is the treasure of Cagliostro?

I have previously reviewed the following Miyazaki-directed films: My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Monoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), and The Wind Rises (2013). As Netflix is shutting down its DVD-by-mail division, I am hoping to get to the Miyazaki films that I have not previously watched.

I had heard of The Castle of Cagliostro in connection with Miyazaki, but I had put off seeing it. I wish I'd seen it earlier, as it is a delightful and maniacal comedy. The film is not without flaws, as it stretches credulity a bit far, even for a Japanese animated film. Lupin is not just a master thief; he is also apparently a super-human thief with supernaturally good luck.

Still, I treasure The Castle of Cagliostro's loopiness because Miyazaki and his co-writer Haruya Yamazaki are imaginative when it comes to the comic and action-adventure possibilities of the twists and turns this quasi-mystery takes. As both designer and storyboard artist, in addition to being director, Miyazaki is inventive in the way he stages the action as a series of chases and fights that are as defined by feats of aerial stunts and gymnastics as they are by martial arts and combat skills.

The characters are quite nice, especially gallant Lupin, who is apparently more ruthless in the original manga, and his partner, Jigen, the amiable, but quite skilled tough guy. However, the star here is Miyazaki in his first feature-length film. He makes the action unrestrained by gravity, natural law, or architecture. Thus, the film is a rollicking adventure with a humorous tone that belies the threat of brutal violence and death that frequently pop up in the story. I really like The Castle of Cagliostro, and I highly recommend it to fans of Hayao Miyazaki and to those searching for the great animated films. I also plan on buying my own physical copy.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, July 27, 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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Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Review: "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2" is Still on Fire

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 of 2023 (No. 1920) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some sensuality

DIRECTOR: John Woo

WRITERS: Robert Towne; from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Barga (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)

PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeffrey L. Kimball (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Steven Kemper and Christian Wagner

COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija, William Mapother, Dominic Purcell, Nicholas Bell, Kee Chan, Antonio Vargas, and Ving Rhames with Anthony Hopkins

Mission: Impossible 2 is a 2000 action-thriller and espionage film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise. It is a sequel to the 1996 film, Mission: Impossible, and is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller. In Mission: Impossible 2 (also known as M:I-2), Ethan Hunt battles a rogue fellow agent in a bid to obtain a genetically modified virus.

Mission: Impossible 2 opens in a lab at Australia's Biocyte Pharmaceuticals. There, Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich (Rade Serbedzija), a bio-genetics scientist, sends a message to his old friend, “Dimitri,” which is the cover name for Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Nekhorvich's employer, Biocyte Pharmaceuticals, has forced him to create a biological weapon, which he calls “Chimera,” and a cure for it, which he names “Bellerophon.” Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy (Brendan Gleeson), plans to profit from Bellerophon as cure for Chimera after the virus is released into the unsuspecting world.

Nekhorvich injects himself with Chimera and carries Bellerophon with him and heads to the U.S., where he hopes to meet “Dimitri.” However, he is intercepted by IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), who is, in some ways, Ethan Hunt's equal and opposite. Ambrose and his men steal Bellerophon and begin their hunt to obtain Chimera, not knowing that it was inside Nekhorvich.

IMF Mission Commander Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins) orders Hunt to lead his team – computer hacker, IMF agent Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), and helicopter pilot, William “Billy” Baird (John Polson), on a mission to get Chimera before Ambrose does. Swanbeck also orders Hunt to add to his team a professional thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), who was, until recently, Ambrose's girlfriend. Can Ethan trust Nyah, or has he gotten to close to her? And is Ambrose more than a match for Ethan?

That's just my personal thing. M:I-2 is its own thing. Directed by Hong Kong auteur, John Woo, the film features the hallmarks of Woo's directorial style, including his “bullet ballet” action sequences, stylized imagery, slow motion action and character drama scenes, Mexican standoffs, and fight sequences that recall the Chinese martial arts sub-genres “wuxia” and “wire-fu.” However, the film doesn't really kick into high gear with some of Woo's best flourishes until its second half.

The first half of the film focuses on Ethan Hunt's obsession with Nyah Nordoff-Hall, which mirrors Sean Ambrose's obsession with her. This “love triangle” allows Woo and his screenwriters to build tension between Hunt and Ambrose that explodes with jealousy and rage and eventually leads to a fight to the death. M:I-2 may be the film in this franchise in which Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt shares the most screen time with other characters, especially Newton's Nyah and Scott's Ambrose.

Anyway, the film really begins to rumble in the second half. The last half-hour or so is a masterpiece of directing, film editing, cinematography, and stunt coordinators and stuntmen. My high rating is mainly because of this exhilarating last act, which makes me want to see this movie again.

Tom Cruise was in his late 30s when Mission: Impossible 2 began filming, yet he looks much younger onscreen, about a decade or so (at least to me). His long hair, that boyish grin, his immature and petulant anger and jealousy would be largely gone 19 months later when his trippy drama, Vanilla Sky (2001), arrived in December 2001. So for me, Mission: Impossible 2 is a good-bye to the Mission: Impossible film franchise's beginnings. The series would rapidly begin to morph with the third entry, and boyish Tom Cruise would finally give way to adult Tom Cruise. At least, I now remember why I loved this film so much 23 years ago, and now, I want to see it again.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

NOTES:

2001 Image Awards (NAACP): 2 nominations: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Ving Rhames) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Thandie Newton)

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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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Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Review: "INDIANA JONES and the Last Crusade" Stills Feels Like a True Ending

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 of 2023 (No. 1917) by Leroy Douresseaux

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

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

MPAA – PG-13

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

WRITERS: Jeffrey Boam; from a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes (based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman)

PRODUCER: Robert Watts

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Douglas Slocombe (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Michael Kahn, A.C.E.

COMPOSER: John Williams

Academy Award winner

ADVENTURE/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliot, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young, and Michael Sheard

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 action-adventure film from director Steven Spielberg. It is the third entry in the “Indiana Jones” film franchise that began with the 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The Last Crusade finds Indiana Jones searching for his father, who along with the Nazis, are search for the Holy Grail.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade opens in Utah, 1912. It is there that teenage Henry Jones, Jr. (River Phoenix) has his first experiences with raiders of an archaeological site.

Over a quarter-century later, in 1938, Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford) recovers the treasure he lost as a teenager. Jones returns to teaching (apparently at Barnett College in Fairfield, New York) when one of the college's wealthy patrons approaches him about a special mission. Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) wants Jones to help him locate the Holy Grail.

Jones informs him that his father, Professor Henry Jones, Sr. (Sean Connery), is the expert on the Holy Grail and the one whom Donovan should seek. Donovan shocks Jones by informing him that he had hired his father to find the Grail, but the senior Jones has disappeared. Jones and his colleague, Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), race to Venice, his father's last known location. Waiting for them is Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), who was working with the elder Jones in Venice as he sought to find more clues about the Grail's location.

Before long, Indiana Jones and Henry Jones Sr. are racing for their lives, staying one step ahead of the Nazis, who also want the Grail, and the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, who want to protect it. Reunited with his old friend, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), the Jones boys get closer to the Holy Grail, but the secret of the Grail is that it offers both eternal life and total destruction.

In preparation for the upcoming fifth film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I decided to see the one Indiana Jones film that I have not watched in its entirety since the 1990s, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I have seen the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, countless times, and I rewatched 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 have long considered Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade the true end of the Indiana Jones film series because it was the third film in the original trilogy and because it felt like the end of something. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull felt like a “coda,” in the sense that it was both an addition to the three-film series that ran from 1981 to 1989 and a final piece added to the ending of The Last Crusade's tale of family and friends out for one last adventure.

Seeing The Last Crusade in its entirety for the first time in decades, I still feel like I'm watching the end of trilogy. If there was going to be another film after it, that ceased to be when River Phoenix, the actor who played teen Henry Jones, Jr. in this film, died in 1993 at the age of 23. Actor Denholm Elliot, who played Marcus Brody in the original film and in The Last Crusade, died at the age of 70, a year earlier in 1992. Henry Jones Sr., actor Sean Connery, only recently died (2020) at the age of 90. So, you see, dear readers, because of the passing of a number of cast members, more and more, I associate Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with endings.

The Last Crusade is my least favorite film of the original trilogy. I know that some audiences prefer it to the darker Temple of Doom, and apparently, director Steven Spielberg made The Last Crusade the way he did to offer a lighter film in response to the criticism of the Temple of Doom's violence and exotic mysticism. However, I find Temple of Doom to be wildly inventive, darkly imaginative, and a roller coaster ride. If Raiders of the Lost Ark is an original, in a way, Temple of Doom still seems determined to be something very different from its predecessor.

Honestly, I find The Last Crusade to be only mildly entertaining until the film's last 45 minutes. Then, it explodes and really finds itself with lots of Nazi-punching and killing and also with a spine-tingling jaunt to the Holy Grail. Besides, Indiana Jones is always at his best when he's beating Nazis. Honestly, I think it is important that audiences who have not seen the original films watch them all before moving on to the new film. By the time they get to the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, many newbies may finally understand what Indiana Jones meant to American cinema once upon a time, and why, over four decades after the release of the first film, there is a new one.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

You can purchase the "INDIANA JONES 4-Movie Collection" Blu-ray or DVD here at AMAZON.

NOTES:

1990 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Ben Burtt and Richard Hymns); 2 nominations: “Best Sound” (Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, Shawn Murphy, and Tony Dawe), and “Best Music, Original Score” (John Williams)

1990 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Sean Connery), “Best Sound” (Richard Hymns, Tony Dawe, Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, and Shawn Murphy), and “Best Special Effects” (George Gibbs, Michael J. McAlister, Mark Sullivan, and John Ellis)

1990 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Sean Connery)

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Friday, June 9, 2023

Review: "TRANSFORMERS: Rise of the Beasts" is the Best Transformers Movie That I'VE Seen

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 24 of 2023 (No. 1913) by Leroy Douresseaux

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

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

MPA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language

DIRECTOR: Steven Caple, Jr.

WRITERS: Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber; from a story by Joby Harold (based on Hasbro’s Transformers Action Figures)

PRODUCERS: Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Michael Bay, Duncan Henderson, and Mark Vahradian

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Enrique Chediak

EDITORS: William Goldenberg and Joel Negron

COMPOSER: Jongnic Bontemps

SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, Dean Scott Vazquez, Tobe Nwigwe, and Sarah Stiles; (voices) Peter Cullen, Pete Davidson, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Liza Koshy, Michelle Yeoh, Cristo Fernandez, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, John DiMaggio,Tongayi Chirisa, David Sobolov, and Colman Domingo

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a 2023 science fiction action film. It is based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line, and it is the seventh movie in the Transformers live-action film series. The film serves a standalone sequel to the sixth film, Bumblebee (2018), and also as a prequel to the first film in the series, Transformers (2007). Set during the 1990s, Rise of the Beasts sees a new faction of Transformers join the Autobots as allies in a battle to save Earth from a planet-eating threat.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts opens thousands of years in the past. There, the planet-eating dark god, Unicron (voice of Colman Domingo), devours a planet inhabited by the Transformers known as the “Maximals.” Unicron had sent his servant, Scourge (voice of Peter Dinklage), and the Terrorcons to steal the Maximals' greatest piece of technology, “the Transwarp Key,” which can open portals through space and time. Optimus Primal (voice of Ron Perlman) and the Maximals: Airazon (voice of Michelle Yeoh), Cheetor (voice of Tongayi Chirisa) and Rhinox (voice of David Sobolov), escape to Earth with the Transwarp Key.

Moving forward to Brooklyn, 1994: the story introduces two humans that are about to get caught up in the Transformers' drama. The first is Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), an ex-military electronics expert who struggles to find a job to support his family, his mother, Breanna Diaz (Luna Lauren Velez), and his younger brother, Kris (Dean Scott Vazquez), who suffers from sickle cell.

The second is Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback). She is an intern at a museum and an artifact researcher who doesn't get the credit for how her knowledge benefits the museum. She has discovered that an artifact which her museum recently obtained has what turns to be a Maximal symbol on it. Soon, Noah and Elena will find themselves in the company of the Autobots: Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen), Mirage (Pete Davidson), and Arcee (voice of Liza Koshy) and caught in a battle to protect the Transwarp Key from falling into the clutches of Scourge in service of Unicron.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the best Transformers movie that I have seen, although I have only seen three of the previous six. I liked the first film, Transformers, and its sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), but after the second sequel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), I'd had enough. I didn't bother with Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), and I tried to watch Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) on television and found it unwatchable. I have never gotten around to watching the first prequel film, Bumblebee (2018), although I had planned on doing it.

There are several things that make Rise of the Beasts stand out from the earlier films. First, there is some genuine human drama. Noah's dedication to his family, especially his little brother, Kris, resonates, and Noah's determination to help his family financially makes his decisions seem logical. Honestly, I really identified with Elena, whose boss, Jillian (Sarah Stiles), keeps taking credit for her work, a situation I have dealt with on and off for four decades (!). I give the filmmakers a lot of credit for choosing non-white actors as the leads, and the screenwriters even more credit for being willing to depict the slights, micro-aggressions, and job discrimination that talented people of color put up with from mediocre white people.

Also, Rise of the Beasts has excellent visual special effects and eye-popping computer-generated imagery. The transformational process the robots go through still looks really cool and sometimes mind-bending. The robot fight scenes rival and probably surpass anything audiences would find in Star Wars movies. This time, however, it means something and isn't just one long slog of creatures of metal slamming into each other. There is a real sense of peril for both human and Autobots. They might die or be destroyed, and the Earth might be devoured. Plus, Unicron is a deliciously evil villain who is equally god and monster. I hope he returns in future movies because as much as he scared me, he also fascinated me.

Director Steven Caple, Jr. has delivered a Transformers movie that is both visually busy and also dramatically hefty with genuine melodrama. Yes, the third act is a bit tedious, but... I'm shocked to say this. I heartily recommend Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

[Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has an extra scene that appears just after the credits begin and also a mid-credits scene.]

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, June 9, 2023

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Friday, May 19, 2023

Review: "FAST X" is Too Fast, Too Furious For One Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2023 (No. 1911) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fast X (2023)

Running time: 141 minutes (2 hours, 21 minutes)

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

DIRECTOR: Louis Leterrier

WRITERS: Justin Lin and Dan Mazeau; from a story by Justin Lin & Dan Mazeau and Zach Dean (based on the characters created by Gary Scott Thompson)

PRODUCERS: Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, Justin Lin, Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, and Samantha Vincent

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen F. Windon (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Dylan Highsmith and Kelly Matsumoto

COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Leo Abelo Perry, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster, Charlize Theron, Jon Cena, Brie Larson, Scot Eastwood, Alan Ritchson, Daniela Melchior, Pete Davidson, Joaquim de Almeida, Rita Moreno, Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Helen Mirren

Fast X is a 2023 action movie that is directed by Louis Leterrier and is produced by Universal Pictures. It is the tenth installment in the Fast & Furious movie franchise (now also called the “Fast Saga”). A direct sequel to 2021's F9, Fast X finds Dom Toretto and his family targeted by the vengeful son of a drug kingpin they defeated over a decade ago.

Fast X begins in 2011 in Rio de Janeiro and recounts events, some of which were depicted in Fast Five (2011). That time, professional criminals, Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Connor, led their crew/family in a heist against drug lord, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). It is revealed that Reyes' son, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), failed in his bid to stop the heist.

In present day Los Angeles, Dom is living a quiet life with his wife, Letitia “Letty” Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), and his son, Brian “Little B” Marcos (Leo Abelo Perry). Dom holds a family reunion that gathers the current incarnation of his crew-family: Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Han Lue (Sung Kang), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), as well as Dom's grandmother, Abuelita Torreto (Rita Moreno).

Roman, Tej, Han, and Ramsey are about to embark on a mission in Rome, Italy – with Roman leading – for Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood), the current head of “the Agency.” However, what Dom and his family will discover is an elaborate trap laid for them by Dante Reyes, returned after over a decade and looking to avenge himself and his late father, Hernan. Dante promise to kill Dom, but not before he makes him suffer by targeting his family and everyone connected to them or who helped them. Now, a ragtag friends, enemies, and frenemies must gather together to stop Dante, who is always one step ahead of Dom and his family. And Dante is enjoying every minute of the chaos and violence he causes.

When the first film, The Fast and the Furious, arrived in movie theaters in June of 2001, I ignored it, although I recognized the film's two stars, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (1973-2013). However, a few years later, I wanted to see 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) because it was directed by the late John Singleton (1968-2019) and because I was a fan of actor Tyrese and rapper/actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. Three years later, I was in a local theater to see The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), but I called it quits after that, refusing to see Fast & Furious (2009). I eventually did see it because I wanted to see the fifth film in the series.

That would be 2011's Fast Five. I found it hugely entertaining, and it was the film that made me a consistent fan of the “Fast & Furious” film series. I think that Fast Five was the first film in the series in which the action was more fantasy or fantastic than realistic. Beginning with Dom and company's adventures in Rio, the series became some hybrid of science fiction-action, quasi-superhero fantasy, and James Bond-type super spy adventure. After Fast Five, the series was never the same.

I won't say that Fast X epitomizes that any more than the previous four films: Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), and F9 (2021). There may be more crashes and collisions of automobiles, military vehicles, aircraft, etc, but it is all familiar, solidly entertaining, but familiar. Fast X does seem to have the highest body count of any of the films, which I did find off-putting. The characters shoot to kill and injury as if they are players in a video game and not characters in a narrative film.

Jason Momoa and Charlize Theron really give stand out performances in the film. Momoa's Dante Reyes seems to be the first series villain that can really destroy Dominic Toretto, and Theron's Cipher is simply, majorly cool.

Fast X is also surprisingly funny, with more wit and humor than I think the series has delivered since 2 Fast 2 Furious. The action is non-stop, but it is also apparently too big for a single film, as you will discover when you watch it, dear readers. Fast X isn't a great work of cinema, but it is a superb entry in this crazy series.

[Fast X has one mid-credit scene.]

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, May 19, 2023

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