Tag: Review

REVIEW: Don’t bother with ‘Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’

If you like yelling, and I mean a lot of yelling, then this is the movie for you.

Ryan Reynolds returns to the role of bodyguard Michael Bryce in this sequel. Because of his actions in the first film, though, he’s lost his status as a AAA bodyguard. To escape the stress of the situation, he decides to take his therapist’s advice and go on vacation.

Unfortunately it’s all quickly interrupted when Sonia (Salma Hayek), wife of hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) approaches him. Turns out, Darius was kidnapped and Sonia needs Michael’s assistance in the rescue. The whole situation gets the trio mixed up in an evil plot to devastate Europe, and they’re recruited by government agents to help stop it.

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REVIEW: Get in the theater for ‘In the Heights’

“In the Heights” is an appropriate name for this film and the stage production its based on.

Not only because it takes place in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, but also because it’s an experience that earns high scores.

The film is set in a Latin community and follows several characters, but the main focus is on Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a bodega owner who dreams of reopening his late father’s beachside business in the Dominican Republic. One of the regular customers to Usnavi’s shop is Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), a young woman working at a salon who wants to pursue a career in fashion.

Early in the film, Usnavi and Vanessa meet up with Nina (Leslie Grace), a Stanford University student whose father owns a taxi company. That company is where Benny (Corey Hawkins), who has relationship history with Nina, works. The four of them spend time with others in the neighborhood and try to navigate their futures during a heat wave across New York City.

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REVIEW: ‘Dream Horse’ won’t be in award races, but it can still please viewers

The races featured in “Dream Horse” aren’t related to the American Triple Crown competitions, but it still feels like the right time to watch this flick.

“Dream Horse” takes place in a small town in Wales and revolves around a group of residents who decide to invest in a racing thoroughbred. Mainly, the movie follows Jan (Toni Collette), the woman who comes up with the idea and convinces other community members to pitch in.

Together, they breed a horse and because it was a group of residents coming aligning for a cause, they name it Dream Alliance. The proposal initially seems like a risky gamble until Dream Alliance becomes a success on the track.

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REVIEW: ‘Another Round’ finely captures society’s link with alcohol

The social enjoyment of having drinks among friends along with the negative impacts of alcohol are both explored nicely in this 2020 foreign film.

A movie from Denmark, “Another Round” follows four friends: Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) and Peter (Lars Ranthe). All of them are middle-aged high school teachers who have settled down.

However, for their own reasons, they all appear to be stuck in a bit of a rut in their lives. Soon after celebrating Martin’s birthday, the four come across a university study that states humans have a blood alcohol level that is actually too low. With that in mind, they decide to put the study to the test and start having a few drinks during the day to see if they’ll function better.

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REVIEW: ‘French Exit’ is a dramedy failure

Academy Award nominees Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges are featured prominently in “French Exit,” yet their presence isn’t enough to rescue this misfire.

In “French Exit,” Pfeiffer plays Frances, a widow  and New York socialite who has spent most of the money left behind after the death of her husband. Hedges, meanwhile, plays Malcolm, Frances’ son who is intending to marry his girlfriend, Susan (Imogen Poots).

With her resources dwindling, Frances decides to move to an apartment in France with her son and navigate what she should do next with her life. While the plan throws a wrench in Malcolm’s wedding dreams, he decides to go along with his mother’s move. Upon reaching France, the duo begin meeting several new characters who become involved in their lives.

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REVIEW: ‘Coming 2 America’ offers an enjoyable reunion

Sequels always have a lot to live up to and usually don’t succeed in surpassing the original picture. However, sometimes it can just be a joy revisiting some old characters.

Both are true for “Coming 2 America.”

The film takes place 30 years after the events of the last movie. Following the death of his father, Akeem Joffer is crowned King of Zamunda and he has three daughters. The oldest, Meeka (KiKi Layne) is well trained in combat and diplomacy, yet she is ineligible for the throne, as only a male heir can inherit the role. This is soon pointed out in the first act by General Izzi, the leader of Zamunda’s neighboring nation of Nexdoria. In a meeting between the two nations, Izzi says Akeem’s lack of a male heir is a sign that the future of the throne is in trouble.

However, Akeem soon learns that he actually did have a son, Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler) with a woman in New York named Mary (Leslie Jones). Akeem, joined by his best friend and advisor Semmi (Arsenio Hall) travel to New York and bring Lavelle and his mother back to Zamunda. There, Akeem begins teaching how Lavelle should act, as he is now the crown prince and heir to the Zamundan throne.

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REVIEW: There’s not much for the audience to win in ‘Godzilla vs Kong’

More than a decade has passed since “Cloverfield” was released in 2008. Since then we’ve had another new monster tale in “Pacific Rim” and some returning stars such as when Godzilla returned in 2014.

Finally, this year, two of the most famous movie monsters went toe-to-toe. It’s a shame that all these years later, this film featuring the fight is on the lower end of recent movies in the genre.

As the title of this film clearly implies, the giant lizard with atomic breath Godzilla takes on the mega ape Kong. The movie takes place in the Monsterverse, where Kong has lived secluded on Skull Island, while Godzilla has become more well known, having defeated Ghidorah in 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.”

In this film, Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) is recruited by a company to bring Kong to the Hollow Earth, which exists beneath the Earth’s surface. Nathan is informed that doing so could lead titans such as Kong and Godzilla to live in the Hollow Earth area and prevent more destruction on the surface.

To pull off the mission, Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), who studies Kong, is brought in to help. They begin moving Kong toward the entrance to the Hollow Earth in Antarctica. However, Kong’s presence outside of Skull Island draws Godzilla’s attention and the two end up meeting with a desire to determine which titan is king.

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REVIEW: ‘The Courier’ is an interesting, but not game changing spy thriller

The spy game is always a dangerous one to to play. It’s Benedict Cumberbatch’s turn to learn that lesson in this new historical drama.

Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne in “The Courier,” a film that takes place during one of the most tense periods of the Cold War. Wynne is British salesman who often travels for work. Along with visiting neighboring countries, Wynne also travels to some Eastern Bloc nations.

Because of his ability to do business in the Soviet area, Wynne is recruited by the CIA and MI6 to go to Russia and meet with an informant. He’s told by the agencies that he is only to visit the informant, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), and return documents to MI6, appearing as just a regular salesman conducting business However, with the Cuban Missile situation nearing, surveillance of what Wynne is doing begins to increase.

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REVIEW: ‘The Father’ is a well-made, distressing drama

The ailments that come with aging and the impacts that they can have on a person’s loved ones is shown in harrowing, heartbreaking detail in this film.

“The Father” is a drama revolving around the character Anthony (Anthony Hopkins). At the start of the film, Anthony is visited by his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman), who is concerned about how her father should be cared for.

It’s shown early on that Anthony appears to be going through dementia, and as the movie progresses, his condition worsens. As a result, Anne begins considering other options for Anthony’s care. Unfortunately, Anne’s discussion of care options brings more confusion to Anthony.

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REVIEW: Generic story causes ‘Chaos Walking’ to crash

Yes, it’s a generic young adult science fiction film, but this time, wait for it, it has actors from Marvel and “Star Wars!”

Yeah, that doesn’t help all too much.

“Chaos Walking” is a film taking place on a new planet with an environment and atmosphere a lot like Earth’s. The only major difference is that men, for no specified reason, can have their thoughts on display. Their thoughts and inner monologues can be heard by people close by and some of the memories they have can even be seen. The film revolves around a young man named Todd (Tom Holland), who works on a farm in a small settlement town.

The colony was one of the first groupings of people to land on the new planet. However, because of a conflict with a native species, all of the women in the town died. The area doesn’t stay woman-less for long, though, as a scout named Viola (Daisey Ridley) from a larger ship with the next group of colonies crash lands on the planet.

Upon her discovery, the mayor of the small community (Mads Mikkelsen) sees an opportunity to call Viola’s ship and take it for himself. Feeling a need to protect her, Todd embarks on a journey with Viola, to get her away from the nefarious character and contact the ship first.

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