Kubo and the Two Strings

Laika continues its spooktacular filmography with Kubo and the Two Strings. This marks the directorial debut of its CEO, lead animator and producer since Paranorman, Travis Knight. And it's another marvelous directorial debut.

In Ancient Japan, young Kubo (Art Parkinson) lives in a cave with his catatonic mother. By day, Kubo entertains the nearby village with his living origami animated by his shamisen. By night, his mother is well enough to tell him the stories of his father, the samurai Hanzo. Kubo's grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes), took his left eye when he was born. So Kubo has to hide at night or risk becoming all blind.

Kubo stays out late one day and meets his twin aunts (Rooney Mara), who both want to take him to the Moon King. Kubo's mother drives them off with all of her magic; when he wakes up, Kubo meets a Monkey (Charlize Theron) in a frozen wasteland. Monkey was a wooden charm brought to life by Kubo's mother. Her job now is to help Kubo find the pieces to Hanzo's magic armor. A giant Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) joins them on their quest.

The screenstory, by Shannon Tindle, Marc Haime and Chris Butler, is a simple quest story. But it's the characters that make it work. Our hero is likable, his companions are fun and the Sisters are creepy. There were some genuine plot twists concerning Monkey and Beetle. The Moon King doesn't show up until late in the film and it's in a dream. He makes for a memorable villain in-spite of his minuscule screentime.

Kubo's introduction warns us, "If you must blink, do it now." Otherwise, we might miss all of the incredible animation. The puppet characters and sets have wondrous designs. They perfectly capture the anime aesthetic in stop-motion form. The best set piece involved a skeleton demon, whose puppet was 18-ft tall. You can see the animators working on said demon during the credits.

Kubo and the Two Strings offers much to listen to. There's an unforgettable score from Dario Marianelli, the best piece being Kubo's shamisen music. There's an assortment of strong sound effects for monsters and weapons. So even if you blink, you won't miss the ambiance.

Kubo and the Two Strings shows, once again, that stop-motion is alive and well. It's a meaningful story of life, death and beyond, as well as forgiveness and remembrance. Don't let the spookiness scare you. It's a great family film and an unforgettable take on the hero's journey.

Ben-Hur

The 1959 film of Ben-Hur wasn't the first, nor the last version of General Lew Wallace's novel, but it's the most famous. One of the biggest film spectacles ever, it won Charlton Heston his only Oscar and put him in the most famous chariot race in movie history. It broke budget, box office and Oscar records for a reason. That's a lot to live up to for director Timur Bekmambetov's take on the story.

Fortunately, this film stands on its own legs just fine.

Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a Jewish prince with an adopted Roman brother, Messala (Toby Kebbell). Messala feels overshadowed by his adoptive family, so he joins the army and rises in the ranks. Meanwhile, Judah weds Esther (Nazanin Boniadi) and encounters a certain carpenter from Nazareth (Rodrigo Santoro).

One day, the Ben-Hur house watch a military parade pass by, where a Zealot tries to kill Prefect Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbæk). Messala forces a confession out of Judah and throws him to the Galleys. Judah spends five years in chains until he escapes during a nasty naval battle. Judah is found by the Shiek Ilderim (Morgan Freeman), a man who knows chariot racing. Judah also likes chariot racing, so he trains under Ilderim to one day race Messala.

And they do...

Screenwriters John Ridley and Keith Clarke do a lot to trim the story down. The 1959 film runs 212 minutes while this one runs 123. The results are acceptable, but not perfect. The pacing for the first 40 minutes or so is sluggish. It improves just in time for the climactic chariot race. The overall story and character relationships are at least coherent, even if a few details are lost in the circus. The point of the classic story is present in this version. 

One name not lost in the circus is Jesus Himself. Santoro plays Him as a humble man who can stop a crowd by being there. He demonstrates it so well when He gives Judah water. His presence maybe brief, but you won't forget it.

It took three editors, including Dodi Dorn, to construct the story. They prove that the PG-13 rating isn't a detriment to movie violence. The wartime violence is brutal as are the racing accidents. Some of the violence provides some unintentional humor; I'm thinking of the Galley foreman who commands the slaves to keep rowing when he's covered in flaming oil. The pacing could've been handled better, but I've seen worse. The chariot race made it all worth it.

Ben-Hur is a decent redo of a cinematic milestone. You'll get your money's worth if you're in it for the action and adventure. Look elsewhere if you want a well-developed Tale of the Christ. While some might find this film pointless, it's at least a good incentive to check out a previous version. It just goes to show you can't fight a movie idea.

Pete's Dragon

Pete's Dragon was one of those older Disney films I wasn't raised on. I heard of it but I never saw it in full. But I did see its cinematic update, Pete's Dragon, and it's a cinematic update which justifies itself.

Young Pete is the sole survivor of a car crash which killed his folks. He's saved from a pack of wolves by a giant friendly dragon he names Elliott. Years later, Pete (Oakes Fegley) is a feral child living with Elliot. Forest Ranger Grace Meacham (Bryce Dallas Howard), her fiance Jack (Wes Bentley), and his daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence), find Pete and bring him to civilization. Elliott sets out to find him. Jack's brother Gavin (Karl Urban) wants to find Elliot too. Grace's father (Robert Redford) is glad that the Dragon he saw years ago is real.

That's about it for plot. But that's not bad.

David Lowery (Ain't Them Bodies Saints) and his co-writer, Toby Halbrooks, completely rewrite the old story for their film. No musical numbers, no comically abusive step-families or comical villains. It has Pete, a Dragon who turns invisible, a kind old man and his daughter and that's about it. The tone is closer to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial than Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. That and Elliott's un-cartoony redesign might alienate fans of the original. But it didn't alienate me.

That's because there's a fine cast of characters. Pete and Elliott's endearing friendship drives the plot. They're both likable and believable characters even if one of them is CGI. The same goes for Pete's new human family. Even the villain, Gavin, is sympathetic. Their actions keep the audience attentive for 102 minutes.

Once again, Elliott is a great CGI creation which looks real at times. His greatest achievement is his sounds, You'd think it's entirely sound effects, but the main element is voice actor John Kassir. The end result sounds like a genuine animal. The cinematography by Bojan Bazelli brings out the visual best in Elliott and his environments, while Daniel Hart's score sets the majestic tone. There's also a nice collection of songs on the soundtrack.

The only real flaw in Pete's Dragon is a few unexplained things, like Elliott suddenly growing weaker near the end. What caused it? His bond with Pete? Heartbreak? But that's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Pete's Dragon is sure to become as memorable as the original. It's one of the best films in a mostly average summer.

Suicide Squad

DC's do-gooders had their turns, but it's now time for the evildoers to shine. The Suicide Squad is the Justice League by way of The Dirty Dozen. Sounds appealing? The end result is flawed but still entertaining.

Intelligence officer Amanda Waller's (Viola Davis) world is populated by costumed heroes and crooks, some of whom have superpowers. Waller decides to assemble a team of such distinguished characters to carry out Black Ops jobs. She goes with the crooks, namely accurate assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), deranged ex-psychiatrist Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), remorseful pyrokinetic ex-gang member El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), loose cannon thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and the aptly-named Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). They'll get some clemency for good behavior. Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and his bodyguard, Katana (Karen Fukuhara), will force their compliance.

One of Waller's subordinates, Dr. June Moone (Cara Delevingne), is the host of a demon called The Enchantress. Waller wants to use her for her "Task Force X," but The Enchantress has other ideas. She and her brother, Incubus, take over Midway City and set out to bring on the Apocalypse. The Suicide Squad's first assignment is to neutralize the demonic threat. If they're not careful, it could be their only assignment. Things get more convoluted when Harley Quinn's lover, The Joker (Jared Leto), decides to get involved.

Writer/Director David Ayer has made a genuine live-action comic. It's full of bright colors and extravagant characters ... and jammed pack with info dump. The Squad is introduced with profile segments detailing their histories and their quirks. The text info often appears faster than anyone can comprehend it, while the flashbacks slow the film down a bit. They eventually introduce Slipknot (Adam Beach), a climbing guy who bites it in his only scene. The army guys who assist the Suicide Squad seem extraneous.

I smell some missed opportunities with the plot. What's so Black Ops about their deal with The Enchantress? Why does it have to be only supervillains? The Enchantress and her stock-issue scheme are what Superheroes excel at stopping.  And isn't it ironic that The Enchantress went rogue right when Waller recruited her for the Squad? That means Waller is the source of the Squad and their problems. Weird, huh?

It's the cast that keeps the movie from sinking. The Squad, especially Boomerang and Harley, are a likable bunch of scoundrels. We know they're bad and they know it too, but their quirky personalities make them fun to watch. Them discovering their inner good guy was compelling even in the disjointed plot. I mean, Deadshot picks a bad time to second guess his career (when he's about to finish off Incubus). The Joker is underutilized but he's still his reliably sadistic self.

The crew are the real stars of the picture. The makeup work perfectly realizes the film's colorful characters, from the tattooed criminals to grungy clowns. You won't forget the looks of these characters. Also in play is Oliver Scholl's production design of the destroyed, desolate Midway City and Roman Vasyanov's nighttime cinematography. Those work great together. Steven Price did the score, but you'll notice the old standards, like Bohemian Rhapsody, much more.

Suicide Squad needed a better narrative to ascend to greatness. A narrative that's cohesive and logical but not condescendingly easy. Its cast of characters make the film worth it, though. Hopefully, they'll have a better movie next time. Hopefully.

Jason Bourne

We thought Matt Damon and his superspy cinematic alter-ego Jason Bourne were done. But since director Paul Greengrass decided to go for round three, Damon is ready to be Bourne again. This time, the character is the title, so here we go.

Our man Bourne is living off the grid since he quit the CIA. It wasn't the friendliest of resignations; he exposed some Black Ops secrets and made the CIA angry. Meanwhile, his lone CIA friend Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), is digging up dirt on a new Black Ops program, Operation Iron Hand. She also finds out about the incident that prompted Bourne to join the Black Ops program Treadstone. She gets Bourne to meet her in Greece so she can disclose it.

CIA director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) wants to keep the truth under wraps. So he sends a guy known only as "The Asset" (Vincent Cassel) to go after Bourne. The Asset, who has a grudge against Bourne, takes out Parsons instead, so now Bourne's got a grudge. Meanwhile, Dewey is essentially strong-arming social media wiz Aaron Kallor (Riz Ahmed) into giving him intel. Kallor wants out, but Dewey won't let him. Bourne's umpteenth quest for the truth across Europe takes him to Las Vegas, where Dewey plans to end his contract with Kallor by force.

Greengrass and his newly promoted co-writer, editor Christoper Rouse, expand Bourne's story with more revelations than ever. The first three movies were about him finding the truth about his past; this one is about the truth behind the truth about his past. New converts will accept it at face value, while longtime fans will frown at the truth pileup. At least Jason Bourne doesn't leave new converts locked out for the first 30 minutes. It has enough detail to bring them up to speed on the story.

Not much has changed for Bourne since 2007. Our hero is still the same tough and stoic superspy. He still has to face a government conspiracy. And he gets into car chases. The head of said conspiracy, Dewey, is a serviceable cold bureaucrat. Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), the new sympathetic CIA agent, made for a more interesting character than Bourne. Christian Dassault (Vinzenz Kiefer), the hacktivist who inadvertently gets the ball rolling, is barely a presence. The Asset is a capable villain with a sympathetic motivation who loses sympathy when we find out his full connection with Bourne. These characters leave a wide web for our audience to travel through.

Rouse's editing is a double-edged sword. It works when he builds some tense action scenes from cinematographer Barry Ackroyd's work. It doesn't when he cuts before the audience can process the action. This makes for an only serviceable action film. But the cinematography is special. The cities Bourne visit look their greatest at night. It's especially so when Bourne chases Asset across Vegas; you can see the whole city clearly.

So where does Bourne go from here? The Bourne Ultimatum should've closed the book that Jason Bourne added new pages too. What other Black Ops conspiracies are tied to Jason Bourne's life? Hopefully, whatever the answer is won't be so convoluted as this one, or worse, hideously retcon the first few films. Make the wait worthwhile.