Tag: Movie Review

REVIEW: ‘Onward’ offers a dull quest

This movie is all about magic, but doesn’t necessarily have that Pixar magic.

Tom Holland voices Ian in “Onward,” a young elf living in a world that, despite fantasy and magic elements existing, has become like our own modern society. A high schooler, Ian lives with his mom Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt) who hasn’t exactly found his way in life.

Ian’s father Wilden passed away before he was born, something that weighs heavily on him. When he turns 16, though, he receives a staff for his birthday and finds a spell to bring back his dad for one day. He starts the spell, but is only able to bring his dad’s legs back. Knowing they only have a day, Ian and Barley decide to go on a quest to find a way to complete the spell.

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REVIEW: Moss, special effects boost ‘Invisible Man’

No Dark Universe, no problem.

After the shared cinematic universe idea for Universal’s famous movie monsters crashed, plans were reworked to have more independent, individual films. The first one up is “The Invisible Man,” written and directed by Leigh Whannell. The movie stars Elisabeth Moss as Cecilia, a woman who just left her abusive boyfriend.

Cecilia is shaken from the relationship and is left with anxiety, fearing that her ex, Adrian, (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) will come after her. However, she soon learns that Adrian has supposedly committed suicide. Just as she begins trying to rebuild her life, though, Cecilia begins to feel stalked and terrorized by an unseen force, which she believes is Adrian.

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REVIEW: ‘Downhill’ enjoyable thanks to mix of drama, dark comedy

“Downhill,” aka, “Marriage Story: On Ice.”

This movie taking place at a ski resort in Austria follows a family of four on vacation. The family includes the parents Billie (Julia Louis Dreyfus) and Pete (Will Ferrell), and their two sons Finn (Julian Grey) and Emerson (Ammon Jacob Ford). The family appears to have some stress from vacation traveling, but seem to be ready for a pleasant trip in Europe.

However, the situation gets rocky when a controlled avalanche to provide more snow on the slopes causes a sequence of events that results in a rift between the married couple. The rest of the trip explores their drama as they navigate the rest of their vacation.

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REVIEW: ‘The Rhythm Section’ is far offbeat

Revenge movies don’t need to be this complicated.

The “Rhythm Section” is about a woman named Stephanie (Blake Lively), who lost her entire family in a plane crash. Since the tragedy, she fell into a world of drugs and prostitution. However, she learns from an investigative journalist that the plane crash was actually orchestrated.

With that knowledge, Stephanie seeks help from a former MI6 agent named B. After some pleading, B agrees to train her and prepare her for revenge on those who planted the bomb on the plane.

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REVIEW: ‘Birds of Prey’ is fun, but doesn’t soar high enough

There’s a feeling with this movie that the creative team said ‘we have Harley Quinn, let’s just slap a movie together around that character and it will all work itself out.’

Unfortunately, that doesn’t really happen here.

“Birds of Prey” picks up after the events of the 2016 movie “Suicide Squad” and audiences soon learn that Quinn (Margot Robbie) is no longer together with the criminal mastermind Joker. She’s not exactly able to enjoy her new single life right away, though, as Quinn soon learns that there’s a lot of people, whether it be random individuals or hardened criminals, who want her dead. Now that Joker isn’t with her anymore, those forces have a clear path to Harley.

One of those criminals is Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), who also goes by Black Mask. As Black Mask’s feud with Quinn develops, other characters are drawn in, including a detective named Renee (Rosie Perez), a mysterious assassin in Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and a dangerous singer trained in combat who goes by Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell). Eventually these figures all become tied in a web that leads back to a young pickpocket named Cassandra (Ella Jay Basco), who stole a jewel that everyone in Gotham is after.

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REVIEW: Underneath the glitz and glamour, ‘The Gentlemen’ is empty

Few movies get as smug and full of itself as director Guy Ritchie’s new feature “The Gentlemen.”

The movie stars Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Pearson. Mickey is the kingpin of a crime organization that grows marijuana in the United Kingdom on land owned by wealthy British citizens. After building his empire up, though, Mickey is looking to get out of the “business” and settle down.

To do so, Mickey is holding meetings with Matthew (Jeremy Strong), a wealthy interested party. However, one night, a tabloid journalist named Fletcher (Hugh Grant) introduces information to Mickey’s right hand man Ray (Charlie Hunnam) that could throw a wrench in the situation.

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REVIEW: ‘Gretel & Hansel’ burned by poor story, character execution

It’s so disappointing when a movie is close to winning you over and doesn’t.

The most recent example is “Gretel & Hansel.”

The film is inspired by the classic dark fairy tale, although this one takes liberties. As the story goes, the two young protagonists Gretel (Sophia Lillis) and Hansel (Samuel Leakey) are forced to venture out into the woods on their own and fend for themselves.

As one would expect, they stumble upon a welcoming structure with plenty of food and a kind woman (Alice Krige) willing to share. However, there’s of course something more nefarious going on.

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REVIEW: ‘The Turning’ never turns into a good movie

Oh January, you have such a way with horror movies.

“The Turning” is one of the latest scary pictures to get released in the first month of the year, with the type of quality one would expect. It stars Mackenzie Davis as Kate, a young teacher who’s hired to be a tutor for a little, wealthy girl who lives with her brother and their caretaker at a large estate. Since the death of their parents, the girl Flora (Brooklynn Prince) and brother Miles (Finn Wolfhard) don’t get out much.

Despite their social skills being poor, especially with Miles, Kate decides to stick with the job and tries to have a positive impact. However, her teaching Flora and attempts to extend an olive branch to the rebellious Miles are made difficult from an apparent paranormal entity in the mansion.

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REVIEW: ‘Bad Boys For Life’ is a forgettable sequel

For more than a decade, “Bad Boys For Life” was more like “Bad Boys in Development Hell.” While the third movie in the series has finally arrived, though, it isn’t exactly worth the wait.

“Bad Boys 3,” as it should’ve been called, picks up with Marcus (Martin Lawrence) and Mike (Will Smith) still working in the Miami Police Department. However, Marcus is preparing for a well-deserved retirement. Mike isn’t all too happy with the news, but before either of them can hash the subject out further, a new threat enters the picture.

A Mexican family is looking to take revenge on a group of individuals in Miami responsible for taking down a crime empire. One of those individuals just happens to be Mike. As a result, Mike and Marcus once again have to team up against dangerous criminals.

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REVIEW: ‘1917’ takes viewers on a harrowing tour of World War I

“1917:” (Or, the unexpected virtue of one continuous take).

This World War I film, directed by Sam Mendes, tells the story of Corporals Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay), who’re sent on a mission to call off a major attack on retreating German soldiers. The two protagonists are ordered to do so because the German forces are actually baiting the Allies into a trap.

To deliver the message, Blake and Schofield must cross a still active war-zone and the areas of France turned into a wasteland by the heavy trench warfare. The film is shot with one continuous take, following the characters all the way on their journey.

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