Magic – Matthew Liedke on Film

Not that it’s a high bar or anything, but yes, this is better than the 2000 film. Much better.

In “Honor Among Thieves,” Chris Pine stars as Edgin, a man who formed a band of outlaws with his best friend Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) to steal from the wealthy. One such mission, though, was not to steal treasure, but instead an artifact that could bring back his wife who was killed years ago.

That mission went awry, causing Edgin and Holga to wind up in prison. By the time they get out, Edgin’s daughter has been taken in by a man who double-crossed the protagonist and taken over a kingdom. To get his daughter back and get some gold in the process, Edgin and Holga bring the band back together for another quest.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ offers quite the fun quest”

This new “Fantastic Beasts” movie just reminds me the last “Harry Potter” came out more than 10 years ago, when I was still in college. Where does time go?

While there’s been some time since “Harry Potter” ended, though, the Wizarding World is carrying on. The latest franchise installment is the third entry in the “Fantastic Beasts” saga, with Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) still posing a threat to the magic nations.

In response to the Grindelwald threat, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) recruits a team including beasts expert Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), American charms professor Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams), Scamander’s brother Theseus who’s an elite dark wizard catcher and WWI veteran Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Dumbledore has to rely on this team, as there’s a spell preventing him from battling Grindelwald directly.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Secrets of Dumbledore’ entertains, but is far too disjointed”