Independence Day: Resurgence

Love it or hate it, Independence Day is one of the 90's greatest cinematic legacies. A massive alien invasion and an endearing cast of characters made for one enjoyable blockbuster. A possible sequel floated around Fox for years like a paper UFO on a string, but now it's an actual sequel. This is Independence Day: Resurgence.

The movie and its characters mark 20 years since a brave Apple Mac Laptop, some fighter jets and a few humans defeated the evil "Whatchmacallit" Aliens (real names not told). Earth rebuilt itself with technology pilfered from the downed Alien Ships. There's now a global defense force, Earth Space Defense, protecting the planet. Everything is better than ever. But former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and former cableman Dave Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) believe the Aliens will one day try round two.

A ship much larger than the first film's Mothership shows up on the Fourth of July. On it is the "Whatchmacallit" Queen and she has vengeance on her mind. The Queen plots to mine Earth's core and suck it dry. A squadron of ESD fighter pilots, led by Dylan Hiller (Jessie Usher), stepson of the late Steve Hiller (Will Smith, from part one), face her head-on. Meanwhile, a giant Sphere, a survivor of the Aliens' previous conquests, comes into the picture. The humans must keep the Sphere from the Queen to save their planet and the universe.

The film also marks the reunion of director Roland Emmerich, and his co-writer/producer Dean Devlin, who went their separate ways after The Patriot. They're two of five writers credited on the screenplay. Like the first film, it juggles multiple storylines centered around the Alien Invasion. It's mostly fine, though there's a salvage crew that could've used more development. It was also nice that the film expanded the scope beyond not just America, but Earth, with the Sphere. The storyline does rush at times, but surprisingly, the pacing was pretty good. It felt like under two hours when it was two hours!

The characters, both old and new, were also good. The best new character was Floyd (Nicolas Wright), a pushy accountant who proves capable in a shootout. Dylan's fellow pilots, including Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), were a nice bunch of characters. Brent Spiner's return as quirky Dr. Okun, who was seemingly killed by a captive Alien in the first film, surprised some people. But I was surprised that the late Robert Loggia cameoed as General Grey, for I didn't recognize him with his white hair. Judd Hirsch, as David's father Julius, looks about the same as last time. Hirsch's presence was welcome as he had the best quips and quotes.

The visual department certainly delivers the "boom." The new spaceships,Terran vehicles and rebuilt cities were awesome designs. The Aliens were perfectly rendered in CGI and composited well. The Aliens' touchdown provided as much destruction as the first film. I also find it funny that the White House, whose destruction was the first film's money-shot, was barely touched this time. It was made for $200 million versus the first film's $75 million and it shows.

Independence Day: Resurgence is a visual experience well-worth the big screen. Who knows if it'll be an endearing classic like its predecessor, but right now, it's a good summer blockbuster. The film ends with an obvious direction for part three and for that, it has my curiosity and attention.

Finding Dory

Hi, I'm Jethro! I write about movies. Several, in fact! Wanna know who had a movie once? Dory. That Pixar fish. She was just a side character in Finding Nemo, now she...

Hi, I'm Jethro! I had a movie once. Several, in fact! Wanna know...

Hi, I'm Jethro...

Wait, I didn't have a movie. Anyway, here's what I thought about Finding Dory.

Dory the Blue Tang lived with her parents, Charlie and Jenny (Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton), and "short term remember-y loss." One day, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) gets lost from her parents. She can't remember why and, eventually, forgets them. She eventually runs into clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks), helps him find son Nemo and...

Lives with them for a year.

She suddenly remembers her past, particularly something about "the Jewel of Morro Bay, California." She darts off to find her parents with Marlin and Nemo swimming close behind. Said "Jewel" is Morro Bay's Marine Life Institute. There, Dory gets lost, gets tagged and sent to quarantine and finds herself about to get shipped off to a Cleveland aquarium.

A chamelonic "septopus" named Hank (Ed O'Neil), wants to go to Cleveland, and he needs Dory's tag for it. He agrees to help her for his own means. Naturally, Dory's memory loss drives him nuts. Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo navigate the Institute to find Dory.

Dory's memory loss, a source of humor in Finding Nemo, is played more seriously here. It opens with Dory playing with Mom and Dad, and suddenly, she's lost. Nothing funny about that. She inadvertently irritates sea-life around her and gets into trouble. But the whole point of the movie is her finding that her problem doesn't make her bad. And that's a good thing.

There's a good mix of new and old characters swimming around. Marlin and Nemo are, of course, the most active old characters. Marlin is still over-cautious, while Nemo is his voice of reason. Their trek through the institute was a fun one made great by their finding Dory. A blind whale shark, Destiny (Elizabeth Olsen), and migraine-addled beluga, Bailey (Ty Burrell), make for a fun pair of supporting characters. A pair of Sea Lions, Fluke and Rudder (Idris Elba and Dominic West), were also fun, but I don't get why they don't like a third sea lion, Gerald (He's odd-looking, but not actively annoying).

As with Nemo, Dory provides some amazing imagery. The ocean looks great, the Institute's exhbits look great and the sea-life is unique and colorful. Hank's chameleonic powers are a great effect. The climactic chase was silly, but it was fun. Thomas Newman once again sets these images to his music. The end result makes Dory a more memorable experience.

Is it better than Finding Nemo? I don't know, since it's been a long time since I saw it.  But I do know that it's a worthy Pixar follow-up. It's a compelling story which simply doesn't rehash Nemo's plot. If it does recycle anything from Nemo, it's its ability to make you care about fish. It certainly makes up for John Carter, which was Director Andrew Stanton's previous work, that's for sure.

As usual, Pixar has another appealing short opening the feature. This is Piper, the story of a sandpiper chick's adventures on the beach finding oysters. It's just as memorable as the movie that follows.

Love and Frienship

Lady Susan was both Jane Austen's first big novel and her last; she wrote it in her teens, but it wasn't published until over 50 years after her death. To make things weirder, director/writer Whit Stillman's film version, Love and Friendship, takes its title from an earlier Austen work (though it was spelled Love and Freindship).

The Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), recently widowed, is "the most accomplished flirt in all of England." She stays with her sister-in-law, Catherine (Emma Greenwell), until her latest scandal blows over. There, she hopes to arrange a match for her daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark), and one for herself. Her match for Frederica, Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), is a babbling doofus. Frederica's eyes are on Catherine's brother, Sir Reginald DeCourcey (Xavier Samuel), and so are her mother's. Like any Austen piece, a comedy of manners ensues.

The film emphasizes the comedy, instead of the romantic, in romantic comedy. The opening scene, set to Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, has Lady Susan and Frederica depart their prior, blubbering hosts, for the in-laws. The characters get a title card introducing themselves. A few cast members over-act unlike any Austen adaptation before. There's Lady Manwaring (Jenn Murray), wife of Lady Susan's prior fling, who acts like a spoiled child. Sir James, meanwhile, is such a doofus that you love him and hate him.

If only Bennett got to play Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice...

The Lady Susan gets her own paragraph. Beckinsale plays her as a desperate Mrs. Robinson. She wants anyone rich enough for her and Frederica. But she repulses people due to her elitism. And yet, she charms the audience with her sharp wit and romantic desperation. She's the kind of character whose actions you condemn, but her social situation you cannot. The credits plug its novelization, "in which [she] is vindicated."

Love and Friendship, like any Austen adaptation, is well-dressed, well-designed and well-photographed. But this isn't a conventional Austen adaptation. It's more Tom Jones than Gone with the Wind. It makes for a decent 92 minutes of silly period comedy.

Warcraft

I have not played any incarnation of Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft video games, but I played a lot of Army Men. So that was strike one against me going into the former's cinematic rendition, Warcraft. But, no. That says more about the film than me. I think.

Draenor, the home dimension of the brutish Orcs, is doomed. Their evil warlock chieftan Gul'dan (Daniel Wu) discovers another world where they can live in. This realm is Azeroth, home to humans, dwarves, elves, mages, etc. Gul'dan is adept at The Fel, a brand of dark magic which feeds on life force, with which he opens a portal to Azeroth. He and a small band go through and they plan to bring the rest.

Naturally, the Orcs' resettlement plans involve killing and looting. So good King Llane (Dominic Cooper) and his brother-in-law, Sir Lothar (Travis Fimmel), set out to stop them. One Orc, Durotan (Toby Kebbell), doesn't want to make war, so he might help. Another Orc, Garona (Paula Patton), joins the humans' side. The good mage-in-training Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) also helps. And the Guardian Medivh (Ben Foster) is supposed to be on their side, but really?

Anyone with a working knowledge of Warcraft lore will understand this unquestionably. Everyone else is sure to have a lot of questions. A lot of core concepts aren't given proper exposition. A lot of characters give too much exposition. It's like David Lynch's Dune, but I didn't have a theater-issued pamphlet to give me a rundown on the lore.

The characters themselves are incredibly stiff. Sir Lothar, the sarcastic one, is the only human with a semblance of personality. Durotan, his Orc equivalent, doesn't have much screen-time with him. Garona is the one with the best character arc. She works to gain the respect of the humans, but is convinced by King Llane to throw it away. That stinks. But the writing is so muddled that it's hard to feel sympathy for the named and nameless characters who bite it. The best laugh of the movie was seeing an actor billed as "One Take Charlie." That actor, by the way, is a sheep. It makes sense in context.

I've seen a few reviews compare this to Battlefield Earth, the famously inept sci-fi film. But Warcraft has one thing that Battlefield Earth doesn't: competent production values. The Orcs, except for Garona, are rendered through motion-capture; the end result is some of the most impressively rendered CGI ever. You'll think that the Orcs are real actors. The spells and kingdoms were also dazzling. The production, costume and makeup design do a great job of rendering the games' Tolkein-esque world. I'd say these values were Oscar-worthy if not for the movie they were used for. And that's a shame.

Warcraft would be a good video game movie if not for the Dune Syndrome. As it turns out, two hours and three minutes is not a good length for a cinematic crash course. You'll do fine if you read up on it before hand. Then again, a few re-writes would've sufficed. If the worst game movies are like watching someone else have fun, this is like you watching them have no fun.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Everyone's favorite terrapin crime-fighters are back for another cinematic adventure. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the same giant, color-coded reptiles that producer Michael Bay and director Jonathan Liebesman re-introduced in 2014. Now with Dave Green in that director's chair, the guys are back for round 2.2 in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), are still the Ninja Turtles. They defeated the Shredder (Brian Tee) but gave the credit to newsguy Vern (Will Arnett). Raph is bitter with the arrangement; Mikey wants to make a public debut and Leo tries to reel them in. Meanwhile, Don and April O'Neil (Megan Fox) suspect scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) of something devious. They're right; Stockman has a teleporter which he uses, along with some Foot Soldiers, to bust out Shredder from a prison convoy.

Shredder winds up on the Technodrome, where he meets the evil Krang (Brad Garrett). Krang wants to come to Earth and Shredder wants some Turtles dead. They team up. Shredder gets some Purple Ooze which he uses to make his personal mutants, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Sheamus). The Purple Ooze can also, probably, render the Turtles human. The Turtles almost break apart because of it. But the Turtles will have to settle their differences if they want to keep Earth intact.

About a month or so after the last one, I considered it a footnote in the franchise. "Oh yeah, that happened." I thought. But this entry is a step in the right direction.

Our heroes themselves are how you remember them. Leo's the stern leader, Raph is the tough loner, Don is the nerd and Mikey's the dude. Their unique personalities and familial bond is what makes the film work. The Turtles and their dynamic were the last film's best part and they didn't forget that here.

The film continues its predecessor's use of motion-capture mutants. The designs for the Turtles and their sensei Splinter were tweaked to keep them down the Uncanny Valley. But they still look like plausible real world mutants. The new characters, overall, look like their cartoon counterparts come to life, which should please some people.

What else? Shredder, like the last film, isn't much of a presence except on principle. Meanwhile, Bebop and Rocksteady were a fun pair of musclebound henchmutants. Newcomer Casey Jones (Stephen Arnell) makes for a good, quirky vigilante. The action scenes were fun and the humor isn't childish. In fact, its sense of humor was legitimately funny.

This entry is worth remembering, for better or worse, than its predecessor. There is some substance to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and it isn't just "stuff fans like." It's substance that keeps you going for the 112 minutes it's on.

X-Men: Apocalypse

Oh, I remember when I had a movie. It was three months ago and it was awesome! It had guns, violence and X-Men! Now the X-Men are back on big screens with their ninth overall funfest, X-Men: Apocalypse! In 3-D!

Deadpool, how did you get back in here?

I let myself in. Now, if you excuse me I have a movie to summarize.

But...

Stop me if you heard this one. Big bad guy gets shut away dozens of hundreds of years ago. And he comes back to life in modern day. And by modern day, I mean 1983. And this guy wants to rule the world. Classy.

OK, the fill in gaps bad guy is (looks at notes) En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac), the world's first mutant. He was the big blue cheese of Ancient Egypt until he got dethroned and entombed. Insert nameless cultists who bring him back to life in 1983. The first thing he does is hire four mutants to be his Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Those are Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Angel (Ben Hardy) and, back again, Magneto (Michael Fassbender)! They're gonna take over the world, of course!

Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), who almost caused the bad future in Days of Future Past, but stopped Magneto from doing the same ('tis complicated), is in the movie too! And so is Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and ...

What're they all doing in the movie?!

Being awesome. But that's beside the point. 

En Sabah Nur wants to spread his word and he thinks Professor X (James McAvoy) is the guy to do it. The X-Men, Mystique included, want to keep the Earth intact, so they oppose him. Simple.

OK, outside! (Shoves Deadpool outside)

But I wanna review it! (Door slams on Deadpool) Ow.

It sounds convoluted, doesn't it? But what saves the film is its characters. The above mentioned characters each have time to impact the plot or make an impression. Quicksilver and Nightcrawler are welcome comic relief, Cyclops and Jean Grey find time to develop a good relationship, while Magneto's storyline is genuinely emotional. En Sabah Nur was a serviceable bad guy. And finally, Professor X and Mystique's stances on Mutant civil rights are understandable. It even finds time for humor. Jubilee (Lana Condor) gets promoted from background mutant to speaking role, but she was under-utilized.

Quicksilver, who was under-utilized in Days of Future Past, has a bigger part here. He has two scenes to showcase his powers, both of which were funny and awesome. The visual effects department once again visualizes a nifty array of mutant powers. The production designers' best work is En Sbah Nur's pyramids, each in Ancient and modern times. The makeup effects create some nifty hairdos and blue mutants. Still, some characters who should be almost 50 (i.e. Magneto and Professor X) don't look the part.

X-Men Apocalypse is nowhere near as cataclysmic as Fantastic Four, but it may inspire bad memories of X-Men: The Last Stand. The mutant characters and their action kept me interested for 144 minutes. We can hope some "pointless" bits in this one will pay off in later installments. Fox can have the franchise as long as it knows what it's doing.

Alice Through the Looking Glass

What was my life like six years ago? I had two dogs. I moved to Modesto. I watched movies on the big screen. One of those many was Tim Burton and Disney's take on Alice in Wonderland, one of the last movies I saw that predated this blog. And now, Disney hopes moviegoers will go down the Rabbit Hole again for Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Tim Burton left Alice Kinsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) a triumphant woman. She slew the Jabberwock, saved Wonderland (aka 'Underland), and asserted her independence in the normal world. Burton gave the director's chair to James Bobin, who opens with Alice in trouble. Alice is a sea-captain commandeering her late father's ship on a voyage to China. On her return voyage, she boldly outwits Pirates during a storm.

Back in London, Alice finds herself under the employ of the snobbish Lord Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill). Ascot, the man whom Alice left at the Altar to go down the Rabbit Hole, orders her to give up her ship or her house. Alice promptly takes a third option: follow the Butterfly Absolem (Alan Rickman) into a mirror that takes her back to Wonderland.

The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is off the deep end, even for him. He's convinced that his family, who were vaporized by the Jabberwock, are still alive. His despair is literally killing him. So Alice goes off on a quest to find MacGuffin #1951, which the movie calls the Chronosphere, to retcon the tragedy. Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen) gives chase, while the Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter) wants some vengeance. Time itself, meanwhile, goes out of whack. And Alice's Adventures in Time make things worse.

The change in directors is noticeable right from the start. The film's color palette is brighter than the first film's. Its sets are a lot easier on the eyes than the first film's Oscar-winning production design. Whether it's digital, real or real with digital enhancements, the work by production designer Dan Hennah amazes through out. Costume designer Colleen Atwood, who won the first film's other Oscar, comes back for the sequel. Her work is made more splendorous than usual thanks to the color palette.

While some may appreciate the new color palette, others may still accuse the film, like its predecessor, of putting style over substance. I found some substance that kept me through its 116 minutes. Danny Elfman's score is another memorable entry for his filmography. Alice's Wonderland friends, specifically the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), are funny and charming in their own weird ways. The Red Queen is given a sad backstory that makes one actually pity her. While Time himself is initially presented as an over-the-top villain, we see why he's actually necessary for universal functionality. It also helps that he's a likable antagonist.

Alice Through the Looking Glass was a pretty good belated sequel. The whimsical characters and tone are intact even with the new color palette. It's bound to please fans of the first film and infuriate the non-fans just the same. I find it better than the first film thanks to the aforementioned stuff. And even if Alice's adventures are done, Disney's fairy tale re-does aren't yet over. Their latest re-do, Beauty and the Beast, comes next March.

The Nice Guys

Don't let the name fool you. The Nice Guys aren't nice ... especially not to bad guys and each other. So don't expect anything placid from this movie. You can, however, expect a bizarre movie to get smarter by the minute.

It's 1977, and Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is a neebish PI who works any case he can in L.A. One day, old Mrs. Glenn (Lois Smith) gives him the case of her niece, Misty Mountains. Misty ... an actress of "high renown" ... drove her car through a house and died. But Mrs. Glenn is convinced Misty is still alive and one Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley) can prove it. Amelia is missing and Holland has to find her.

But Amelia doesn't want to be found. So she gets her own hired hand, the brutish Enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), to drive away Holland. It turns out that some shady people want to find Amelia too. So Jackson and Holland join forces to find her first. Their trek down Hollywood uncovers a conspiracy involving Detroit automakers and a Political Protest Porn film.

(There, I said it. Porn. Alliteration is funny.)

Director/Co-Writer Shane Black, creator of the Lethal Weapon movies, brings another winning movie duo together with Crowe and Gosling. Their chemistry as they go from reluctant partners to willing ones is what makes the movie work. Gosling gets the best comedic moments while Crowe gets the best action. Meanwhile, Angourie Rice, as Holland's daughter Holly, makes for a great straight man and morality chain for the two of them.

About the story. It's like Abbot & Costello were in a film noir and the Hay's Office was asleep. The slapstick is hilariously brutal and John Boy (Matt Bomer), the film's main henchman, is legitimately threatening. Misty's death is all kinds of wrong but her last words make sense later on (it's the name of the MacGuffin movie). Amongst the family friendly laughs, there's one with coffee, another with a protest and a dream with a giant bee. The mystery story surrounding it all is a masterful one.

It's also a winner in technical aspects. The production and costume design are another vibrant representation of the 1970's. Joel Negron's editing legitimizes the humor, action and suspense. There was also a nifty original score, one provided by David Buckley and John Ottmann. There was barely an old standard in hearing range and it was cool for it.

My only issue, a minor one, is that the film should have been a few minutes shorter. Other than that, The Nice Guys runs smoothly for 116 minutes. It's an entertaining action comedy with a capable plot and great characters. It's the kind of movie that makes you want more like it. I do.

The Angry Birds Movie

It's the game almost everyone's played in one form or another. And now, Angry Birds has its own movie, "creatively" titled The Angry Birds Movie. The end result is one of the better video game adaptations out there.

Red (Jason Sudekis) hates his life on Bird Island. And yet, he's a party clown. At least he was, until he botches a gig and gets sentenced to anger management class. The class is hosted by Matilda (Maya Rudolph) and attended by Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride) and Terence. Matilda's goody-goody attitude makes Red feel lousier.

A ship of green pigs drops anchor on Bird Island - specifically on Red's house. Their leader, Leonard, brings the birds good tidings and gifts, like a slingshot. But that doesn't make Red any happier. Red's distrust is confirmed when he discovers Leonard and the Pigs are after the Birds' precious eggs.

And so, Red and his flightless neighbors must aim and shoot at the Pigs to get them back. And thus, I have described the entire movie.

The best thing going for it is its artistry. The animation, character detail and scenery are pretty good. I didn't mind that the characters now have limbs; the birds are still unique and the pigs are still green. Chuck's speed effects were pretty fun. This was pretty artistic for a budget of around $75 million.

It's story isn't as jumbled as Ratchet & Clank', but there are some issues. The film's 97 minutes are slowly paced; the first two paragraphs of my summary are about the first hour of the film. Red has a legitimate grievance with the Pigs that no one cares about. Then Red turns into the Chicken Little who really saw the sky fall. The toilet humor wasn't something I cared for, especially since one gag was unreasonably stretched out. Fortunately, the climactic assault on the Pigs was the best part.

The voice cast makes the most of their characters. They make their characters all lovable, even the bad guys. Special mention goes to Terence, whose deep growls are by Sean Penn, whose casting might be the film's best surprise.

The search for the great video game movie continues. But for now, The Angry Birds Movie, adequately fits the niche for video game movies. It could have been better, but let's not imagine how it could get worse.

Captain America: Civil War

The Star-Spangled Man is back for his third solo movie. This is Captain America: Civil War, which shares its subtitle and themes with one of Marvel's most infamous comic story-lines. The end result is one of Marvel's best cinematic outings.

Captain America (Chris Evans) and his Avengers thwart the supervillain Crossbones (Frank Grillo) from stealing a bioweapon in Lagos. Crossbones has an explosive surprise for Cap but Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) puts a lid on it. Unfortunately, she accidentally sends it at a nearby building. That incident finally inspires the UN to draw up legislation to regulate our heroes. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is all for it, but Cap is not. The meeting where the legislation is to be ratified goes south when somebody adds a truck bomb. The most high profile casualty is King T'Chaka (John Kani) of the African nation of Wakanda.

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the Winter Soldier, is the prime suspect of the incident. Captain America knows of Bucky's brainwashing, so he isn't convinced of his old buddy's guilt. Tony and the UN are convinced. So that leaves the Avengers choosing sides. Meanwhile, Col. Zemo (Daniel Brühl) of Sokovia (site of Age of Ultron's climactic melee) seeks to wreck the Avengers even further. Perhaps T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the new king of Wakanda and the superhero Black Panther, can solve it.

Its premise of a superhero brawl and themes of superhero accountability and oversight will make one compare this to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. It's just like that earlier movie if it was done more coherently. That's because screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely give both sides believable motivations. They have good points to make about their positions. They both believe they're correct while the audience ponders which one "really" is. It isn't conflict for the sake of conflict.

The film's new characters are memorable. Col. Zemo is one of Marvel's best cinematic villains, or maybe the best. He's not a superhuman, but he is dangerously intelligent. All Zemo has to do is make arrangements and watch some fireworks. Black Panther has the most compelling arc; it gets him from a vengeful warrior to a rational bringer of justice. Its most anticipated new character is Spider-Man (Tom Holland), whose wisecracks were welcome and acrobatics were Amazing.

Marvel fans expecting cinematic action and wisecracks will get their money's worth. Captain America: Civil War is a meaningful cinematic showdown that makes its 144 minutes memorable. Its consequences can't be undone with a magic reset button. Our heroes will be back together for the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, so we know they'll reconcile. But how?

Its prerequisite mid-credit and end-credit scenes give screen-time for Black Panther and Spider-Man, both of whom will have Marvel solo movies in the next few years.

Ratchet & Clank

One's a feline alien, and the other's a robot. Together, they fight Galactic crime. They've done it on Playstation games since 2002. And now, Ratchet & Clank are together on the big screen. It's an admirable adaptation of a video game, though nothing Oscar-worthy.

Ratchet the Lombax (James Arnold Taylor) is a mechanic on Planet Veldin. He's the only Lombax on this side of the galaxy, or perhaps ever. Employed and raised by Grim (John Goodman), Ratchet wants to leave the planet and join his heroes, The Galactic Rangers. What luck that they have open tryouts on Veldin just now. But he's immediately rejected by the Rangers' egotistical doofus commander, Captain Qwark (Jim Ward). So it seems Ratchet has to resign himself to mediocrity. It's not like adventure will fall out of the sky...

Oh wait, it does.

The evil Chairman Drek (Paul Giamatti) wants to make his own ideal planet. He sets out to build it with the help of his De-Planetizer space-station. But since it, well, blows up planets, The Galactic Rangers set out to stop him. But not if Drek and his War Bots can stop them first. A glitch results in one War Bot that's small and nice. This "defect" is Clank (David Kaye), and he escapes termination from Drek's henchbot, Victor Von Ion (Sylvester Stallone).

Back to the second paragraph...

Clank crash-lands on Veldin and is found by Ratchet. Ratchet and Clank join forces to stop the War Bots from killing the Rangers. They become instant celebrities, which threatens Qwark's stardom. That gives Drek some ideas on how to deal with the Galactic Rangers.

The plot sounds like a lot of animated movies. But its sense of humor saves it from banality. The captions which introduce a new location come with a joke ("Cue Bad Guy Speech in 3 ... 2 ... 1" took me by surprise). There's also a few bits of slapstick and referential humor here and there. Game fans are sure to find delight in the game references; meanwhile, I found Ratchet's Ranger crash course funny as Qwark gets exhausted by the weapon screwups. But the villains provide the best humor. In particular, the games' longest-running foe, Dr. Nefarious (Armin Shimerman), makes for a delightfully over-the-top scientist.

The problems come with the story. Its 93 minute runtime is paced both exceptionally fast and exceptionally slow. A certain character turns evil, realizes he's been betrayed, and is still evil until Ratchet tells him not to be (Was something jumbled in writing?). Ratchet gets blamed for the first attack on Drek going south for reasons that weren't adequately explained. Although they were voiced well, the characters felt too one-dimensional at times.

Like any good video game, Ratchet & Clank looks good. The animation and scenery is detailed and colorful. The character designs are good updates of the original PS2 designs. The new characters fit right in with established favorites. This was great work for a $20 million movie.

For all of its faults, Ratchet & Clank at least attempts to make a story out of a video game. It wasn't a great story, but it's the thought that counts. Newcomers to the franchise won't get lost in the shuffle. Longtime players will also find some fun out of it. Perhaps the great Video Game movie will come. But we'll just have to wait at its now loading screen.

The Huntsman: Winter's War

In my review of Snow White and the Huntsman, I called it "already decent." Maybe decent wasn't the best word. Because other than the visual design, everything else was pretty drab. Maybe that's where it's half-prequel/sequel The Huntsman: Winter's War will end up in a few years.

It took forever, but the follow-up that Universal wanted is here. The first film's Oscar-nominated Co-Visual Effects Supervisor, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, has been promoted to the director's chair. The first film's Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), who we find out is named Eric, is the star. But let's see if it's the follow-up the general public wanted.

While evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) was conquering kingdoms, her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) was falling for a nobleman. They have a daughter, but the nobleman sets the infant on fire. So Freya sets him on ice. Yes, Freya has ice powers and she goes up north to build herself a kingdom as the Ice Queen. She sets out to conquer and pillage and recruit kids of conquered lands as Huntsmen. She gives them one rule: no love.

Two of the Huntsmen, Eric and Sara (Jessica Chastain), fall in love. They elope and Freya finds out. She has them fight their way out to prove their love. But Freya is a cheat and separates them with a wall of ice. Eric gets knocked out just as he sees Sara stabbed in the back. Eric is tossed into a river.

Seven years and one movie later, Ravenna is dead and Eric is still a brooding Huntsmen. The Magic Mirror goes missing and Eric has to find it for Snow White's sake. Two dwarves, Nion and Gryff (Nick Frost and Rob Brydon), join him. Two more dwarves, Doreena and Bromwyn (Alexandra Roach and Sheridan Smith), join them. And so does Sara, who is not dead (but Elsa Freya made Eric think she was with illusionary powers), but bitter. Freya wants the mirror to conquer and pillage. She'll be surprised once she sees what's in the thing.

Its plot twists are certainly no surprise; sloppy seems a better word. Sara's survival hinges on Freya's other powers that aren't brought up before or after that scene. Ravenna's role in jumpstarting Freya's villainy was obvious from the start. On the other hand, I expected Freya's child to actually survive and grow up into somebody important; she didn't. So maybe that's one plus.

The "Ice Queen" herself is meant to be a sympathetic antagonist. But I'm reminded why Disney had to adjust Elsa's personality to make Frozen work. Whereas Elsa wants to be alone, Freya jumps off the icy slippery slope from the start. Her plan to conquer and pillage was her idea. Her separating Eric and Sara with McGuffin powers makes her a vindictive cheat. She wants to conquer and pillage until Ravenna comes back into the picture. I didn't really feel sorry for her.

The only fun comes from the dwarves. They're much more likable and funnier than the main cast. The "female dwarves are ugly" jokes are too numerous, but their relationship with each other is endearing. Going back to the main cast, Hemsworth and Chastain are serviceable in their character types. Nothing more, nothing less. And Theron still hams it up as the evil Ravenna.

The visual design still works. Freya's ice powers and citadel are wonders of visual effects and production design. Her wardrobe and Ravenna's are where Coleen Atwood's costume design does its best. The digital face swap used for the dwarves was seamless. A molten river of gold and slave in the mirror are also highlights for the FX team.

The Huntsman: Winter's War's icy atmosphere lends itself to a typical dark fairy tale. A Snow White film without Snow White is one thing, but this Grimm tale doesn't distinguish itself that well from all the others. It's nothing bad, but nothing special. A film on either end of the movie thermometer might certainly have its own identity. See it only if you want to.

The Jungle Book

Now this is the law of the cinema, as old and true as the sky.

A good story that worked before someday gets another try.

The Jungle Book is one story that worked for Disney before,

first animated 1967 and then in live-action in 1994.

This newest Disney version has a live-action Mowgli and a CGI zoo

directed by Jon Favreau, best known for Iron Man 1 and 2.

The Man-Cub Mowgli is part of Akela and Raksha's wolf pack

A home in the Jungle is what Mowgli does not lack.

But Shere Khan the Tiger shows up to say
"give up Mowgli or you shall all pay."

Bagheera the Panther escorts Mowgli to the village of Man

so that terrible tiger can't threaten his lifespan.

Mowgli doesn't want to be forced back to Man,

and wants to get to the Wolves any way he can.

On his travel, he meets that old bear Baloo

and King Louie, who sings "I wanna be like you."

Mowgli needs to defeat Khan to save the day

so the fauna can safely make their way.

(Switching to prose now.)

The film has a sparse human cast, primarily Neel Sethi as Mowgli, interacting with CGI animals. These animals interact with humans and actual backgrounds believably. When Baloo (Bill Murray) floats down a river, he really looks wet from an actual river. The wolf pups who call Mowgli brother look like real wolf pups. King Louie (Christopher Walken) makes for a convincingly intimidating great ape. On principal, you can tell its CGI, but its CGI done right.

The film is more serious than the 1967 movie. Shere Khan (Idris Elba) is much more hostile than his suave animated counterpart (George Sanders). His presence is legitimately intimidating. So is Kaa (Scarlet Johansson), who's much bigger than her (male) animated counterpart and comes dangerously close to eating Mowgli. But Baloo saves the day with his comic relief and fighting prowess. 

Jon Debney's score incorporates bits from the animated film. Richard Sherman, the surviving Sherman Brother, even returns to rewrite King Louie's big number to accommodate him being a Gigantopithecus. The re-orchestrations are a great listen; the new material is just as memorable. Whether new or old material, the music sets the movie apart from the animated movie.

Anyone who's seen the animated Jungle Book will know the new film's beats, but there's enough new stuff to keep them involved. The well-cast actors, both live-action and animated, make these familiar characters compelling. The story and plot goes at a fine pace throughout 105 minutes. It's certainly a good (yet intense) introduction to the story for new viewers. 

And about stories being told again and again? Someone decided to make another Jungle Book at Warner Bros. This version, directed by Andy Serkis, who will also be Baloo, will hit screens either next year or the year after that...

Batman v Superman

COURT TRANSCRIPT

PROSECUTOR: State calls the case of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to order. We allege that there is no place on the big screen for two DC superheroes. Or a dozen. This will decide ... (sees a note.) No, I don't want peach tea.

JETHRO comes in and shoos out the courtroom. The Courtroom EXPLODES with whipped cream.

JETHRO: It could've been worse. Like the movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stacks a lot of eggs in one basket. It's a sequel to Man of Steel, Superman's movie. But then there's Batman. A few supporting characters from their lives. And Wonder Woman. And cameos from other DC Comics stalwarts. They were in a hurry to get their movies started, weren't they?

Anyway, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) was in Metropolis when General Zod wrecked the place and fought Superman (Henry Cavill) in a cataclysmic free-for-all. Bruce is mad that a few employees were among the casualties. So he revives his old alter-ego, Batman, to get back at Superman. Meanwhile, antisocial rich nerd Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) hates Superman too, so he invests in Kryptonite to kill the Man of Steel. He also covertly harasses Batman and Superman to get them at each other. 

All Superman wants to do is the right thing. But a lot of people, especially Batman, think he'll go evil. It doesn't help that Bruce has nightmares of Superman as king of the world. So what's a Superman to do? Fight? There's a lot of that. Meanwhile, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), the Amazon known as Wonder Woman, comes into the plot. And Lex has something cooking in the remains of Zod's ship.

I've just realized something: typing The Amazing Spider-Man 2's synopsis was easier than this.

Zack Snyder, working from a script by David Goyer and Chris Terrio, is the director again. The screenplay, as previously stated, throws in a lot of DC Comics stars into the mix. The most obvious nods are cameos by our heroes' future co-stars of the Justice League; take them out, and we'd lose little. What're they doing in the movie with little explanation? Luthor's henchmen, Mercy Graves and Anatoli, are major DC characters, but their backstories don't weigh down the film (then again, they don't have much development).  A lot of story elements are resolved questionably. Then, there's big action. 

But I tolerated this film. Despite the multiple story elements crashing in, there was a compelling story. It, at least, tries to integrate the action scenes into the story. There was also humor rising above the self-serious tone. The visual effects were serviceable, never intrusive. Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's score was a memorable collaboration. The only thing that would've killed the film was a loud theater sound system.

The cast helps a lot. Ben Affleck, as Batman, made for a great hero. His first scene had him drive into the Metropolis chaos and helping a few survivors. He'll act even if he gets in danger, too. Cavill, as Superman, was much more relatable here than he was in Man of Steel. Gadot needed more space in the story, but from what we have, we have a strong, fearless heroine. Her first appearance in her super alter-ego was met with applause at my screening. Eisenberg's Luthor swings between affable and petty. But when he gets petty, he gets dangerous and scary. No actor was out of place in this DC movie.

Batman v Superman just needed a narrower focus to get a better story. But if you want big action, you won't be disappointed. And if you are disappointed, at least we have The Lego Batman Movie coming next year. I'll bet that one, like almost everything, is awesome.

10 Cloverfield Lane

Cloverfield proved that a film made in secret can stomp triumphantly to the bank. Eight years after that giant monster movie, producer JJ Abrams brings back the name for another covertly produced sci-fi thriller, 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) leaves Baton Rouge and her fiancee, Ben, for who knows where. She didn't want to end up in the path of a speeding pick-up. But that's where she ended up. When she comes through, she's trapped in Howard's bunker.

Howard (John Goodman) is the conspiracy theorist who brought Michelle to safety. Emmet is the local who invited himself into Howard's bunker. They both tell Michelle the same thing: a major catastrophe has made the air outside unbreathable. They're all Michelle has for company for the next few years or so.

Michelle doesn't find Howard's violent mood swings hospitable. So she and Emmet try to find some way to the surface. But what if Howard is right? What if something unimaginable wrecked the world?

This $15 million thriller marks the feature directorial debut of Internet celebrity Dan Trachtenberg (The Totally Rad Show). It's a perfectly claustrophobic thriller. Michelle spends much of the 105 runtime in the confines of the bunker. Howard isn't nice, but we slowly get clues that whatever happened outside isn't nice either. We wait in anticipation as to how Michelle gets out of it. Let's hope Trachtenberg doesn't end up like Josh Trank, whose low budget success story Chronicle was followed by the big budget mess Fantastic Four.

John Goodman, as Howard, adds to the tension. He's a control freak who swings between nice and scary in a second. In fact, he's so domineering that his niceness is open to scrutiny. All he wants from Michelle and Emmett is for them to behave. Even them holding hands is enough to set him off. Whatever is outside can't be worse than him. Right?

Michelle is an equally capable protagonist. You can't blame her for greeting her situation with skepticism. It's a nightmare even if it wasn't because of a catastrophe. She uses any chance she gets to escape. And by the end, she goes from running away (like from Ben) to facing her problems head on. It's a very compelling arc.

The sound mix, cinematography, production design and score complete the claustrophobia. Those elements make 10 Cloverfield Lane one of the best thrillers out there. It'll stay in the public memory just as long as the first movie. Don't be disappointed when the ending hits. I thought it was a sensible one.

Zootopia

Not even a month has passed since Inside Out won the Oscar for Animated Film and the first candidate for its successor is here. Zootopia's first ad played before the aforementioned Pixar hit last year. It looked like a fun anthropomorphic animal adventure. What we get is a profound, fun anthropomorphic animal adventure.

Judy Hopps is the first rabbit police officer in the city of Zootopia, "where anyone can be anything." In Zootopia, Predators no longer crave Prey, so at least Judy's neck is safe. But Chief Bogo assigns her meter maid duty on her first day. Meanwhile, her fellow officers are assigned to investigate the disappearances of 14 animals (even an otter). Judy is bummed out over this. But it's during her shift that she first meets Nick Wilde, a sly hustler fox.

Judy almost gets herself fired when she goes cowboy cop on a crook. But it gets her assigned to the case of the missing otter. Judy conscripts Nick, a key witness, as her partner. Their investigation takes them across Zootopia's giant ecological regions. They slowly realize that something - or someone - is out to turn Zootopia's Predator and Prey populations against each other. Judy and Nick have to move past stereotypes to solve the case.

Seven writers contributed to the film's story. But all those cooks didn't mess up the kitchen. They instead perfectly beat up prejudices by deconstructing animal stereotypes. Sly animals like Nick, for instance, act so because that's what society labels them. And holding stereotypes or being victims of stereotyping hurts. The film does engage in some stereotyping (an Arctic Shrew mafioso, Sloths as the staff of the DMV), but these are minor faults in the bigger picture. The big picture balances out its drama with plenty of funny moments.

It helps that its cast of characters are great. Judy is the endearing optimist who stands for the little folks ... and is a little folks. Nick is the lovable rogue. They make an excellent pair together as partners and friends. Judy's fellow officers, from tough-but-fair Bogo to lovable cheetah Clawhauser, are a good bunch. Even the aforementioned mafioso, Mr. Big, isn't that much of a bad guy. The main mastermind helps out Judy so willingly that their reveal is quite surprising. The cast will settle in quite nicely in Disney history.

Zootopia is another artistic achievement. Its various regions, from the rain forest to the frozen tundra, are amazingly rendered. The character designs make the cast more lovable. The animation even looked realistic at times. The always reliable Michael Giacchino sets the movie to another fine score. It's another 3D artistic achievement.

Zootopia is another great film parents and kids can enjoy together. It's a well-executed mystery film with an articulate anti-discrimination message. If it inspires better understanding between folks, then the film has done its job.

Deadpool

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a pretty forgettable movie, but one thing almost saved it. That was Ryan Reynolds as the loony assassin Wade Wilson, alias Deadpool. But they wasted it by turning him into a joyless "mutant killer" played by another actor.

Flash-forward to now and Fox and Reynolds are ready to try again. Deadpool has his own movie now. And it's the opposite of joyless. Who better to explain the plot than the merc with a mouth?

Yay!

So I'm Wade Wilson, former special forces guy turned protector of the innocent. I have a hot girlfriend, Vanessa (that's good!), and cancer of the everything (that's bad!). The guys at my favorite bar bet on which of us will bite it first. That's the Deadpool from which I get my super identity. But I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

Yes, you are.

Quiet you.

A guy shows up offering to cure my cancer and make me a superhero. So I turn guinea-pig. That's when I meet Francis (Ed Skrein) and his partner, Angel Dust (Gina Carano). Francis is the censored scientist who tortures me so my dormant mutant genes can give me a superpower. I get a healing factor (that's good!) that roadblocks my cancer (that's awesome!) and destroys my good looks (that sucks!). And then Francis leaves me to die when the place goes up in smoke. (It was kind of my fault. I made the place go boom.)

But I'm still here. And I can't bring myself to see Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) in my condition. I want some payback. I put on a red suit and go hunting for Francis. These two X-men, Colossus (body by Andre Tricoteux, voice by Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), want me to join them. But I don't wanna. Francis decides to nab Vanessa to get to me. So I have to get their help.

And since you're reviewing the movie ... Deadpool out.

Yes, I am.

The movie prides itself as an anti-superhero movie. There is, of course, all the blood and language X-Men Origins never had. But we also have Deadpool break the fourth wall like it was never there. The opening credits give jokey descriptions to the cast and filmmakers (i.e. Stan Lee is "A Gratuitous Cameo"). There are also left-hooks delivered to Deadpool's portrayal in X-Men Origins. The metaphysical violence makes for the best laughs of the film.

Deadpool and his supporting characters are memorable. His first scene endears him to the audience as an honest, goofy anti-hero. He says he's not a hero, but his heart's in the right place. His relationship with Vanessa is endearing; Vanessa herself is much better than typical damsels in distress. His sidekicks are capable straight men to Deadpool's zany one. I just wish there was more of one of his non-mutant sidekicks, Blind Al (Leslie Uggams).

Director Tim Miller makes the most of $58 million. The visual effects are amazing for the budget, especially the opening shot, which travels along a spinning car with Deadpool and bad guys. The mutant powers are also nicely realized. The editing helps punctuate the action and humor. The fight scenes are exciting and tense. These elements help make it a fun movie.

Exercise caution if you take your kids to Deadpool. Or don't bring them at all. Those who come won't be disappointed. It's a much more memorable portrayal of the title character than last time. It's also much smarter and mature than advertisements might portray it. It stands with the best superhero films rather than on top of their smoking carcasses. And that's a good thing.

Hail, Caesar!

Joel and Ethan Coen won the Palme d'Or for their sendup of 1940's Hollywood, Barton Fink. Now they deal with Hollywood in the 1950's for their latest farce, Hail, Caesar! It's the kind of film you'll appreciate if you know your Hollywood history.

In 1951, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) runs entertainment powerhouse Capitol Pictures. He's also a "fixer" who maintains his stars' good public images. He feels trapped in his job and life. So an offer to work at Lockheed seems tempting. But first, he has to manage his studio's latest biblical epic, Hail, Caesar!, which has a PR disaster looming. Its star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), has been nabbed by a Communist cell called "The Future." And they want lots of cash.

Meanwhile, The Coens let us see what else Capitol Pictures has in the pipeline. A classy drama, Merrily We Dance, whose star, singing cowboy Hobie Doyle (Arden Ehrenreich), can't shake off his drawl. An Esther Williams-esque musical, whose star, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlet Johansson), is pregnant out of wedlock. And a Gene Kelly-esque musical starring Burt Gurney (Channing Tatum), a major player in Whitlock's plight. Mannix has to keep those productions running smoothly.

Whether or not you get the jokes depends on your knowledge of film history. The Communists count influential philosopher Herbert Marcuse (John Bluthal) as one of their members. Many of the characters are substitutes for real-life figures (or use their names). And the whole process of old time film-making gets skewered. That last part provides some accessible jokes, especially editor C.C. Calhoun's (Frances McDormand) near-fatal encounter with her Moviola.

The best part is the Coens' depiction of moviemaking. It's a highly-exaggerated process that makes one wonder how "The Dream Factory" made worthwhile products. One of Mannix's first scenes has him discuss Hail, Caesar! with religious leaders. They make themselves look foolish by arguing over the specifics of God and Christ and ... something. The in-film itself has odiously-exaggerated accents that would derail a modern epic. And they expect this to be their "prestige picture?" Meanwhile, Merrily We Dance has director Lorenz (Ralph Fiennes) deal with Doyle's miscasting. Those scenes provided the best in-universe outtakes of the film.

The Coens have a great crew to visualize old time Hollywood. Their longtime cinematographer, Roger Deakins, makes the films-within-a-film look authentic. Their equally longtime composer, Carter Burwell, provides another good score. Burwell also co-wrote a few songs, including Gurney's catchy dance number "No Dames." Jess Gonchor's production design gives us some nice sets within giant soundstages. And the costume designs by Mary Zophres give us plenty of elaborate 50's fashion. The most elaborate fashion comes from the Thacker Sisters (Tilda Swinton), twin take-offs of Hedda Hopper.

Hail, Caesar! is a lot more optimistic than Barton Fink. The latter film is about a screenwriter stuck in Hollywood purgatory by the end. Hail, Caesar! is about finding joy in what you do. It's a lot more optimistic than many of the Coens' filmography, especially their most recent works. But the Coens' farcical talents are still on display. The various subplots and cameos stall the plot a bit, but they all become useful at the end.

Even if the references fly over one's head, the cast and crew the world of old Hollywood feel authentic. So all in all, Hail, Caesar! is a goofy farce about Hollywood as it was. And it works on those terms. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a small fortune must be in want of running shoes to get away from the undead.

Huh?

Seth Grahame-Smith rewrite of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, became an instant classic in 2009. Lionsgate had the foresight to buy the film rights that same year. But they couldn't get it off the ground right away.

Seven years later, the zombies have finally arrived in cinematic Regency England. And it's Sony's Screen Gems which distributes the end result (and Lionsgate in the UK). 

The undead have risen to conquer England. Mr. Bennet (Charles Dance) has his five daughters - Jane (Bella Heathcote), Elizabeth (Lily James), Mary (Millie Brady), Kitty (Suki Waterhouse) and Lydia (Ellie Bamber) - trained in the Shaolin Martial Arts to fight them. Meanwhile, rich folks like Catherine de Bourgh (Lena Headey) train in Japanese Martial Arts. And Mrs. Bennet (Sally Phillips) wants to get her girls to the altar right away.

A rich gentleman, Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth), moves into a nearby manor. He and Jane develop feelings for each other. So do Elizabeth and Bingley's friend Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) - animosity. But they have to set aside their differences to fight the ever-growing horde of Zombies. There appears to be someone leading the undead into battle. Our heroes will have to find this man before doomsday comes.

Writer/Director Burr Steers moves the story along at a good pace for 108 minutes. Austen's classic story beats are still recognizable even with the walking dead around. The story elements Steers adds were pretty unique. My favorite story element was making most of the zombies sentient. This made them much more of a threat as they can now lure prey into a false sense of security before attacking. A few elements aren't fully developed but they didn't detract from the overall experience that much.

The cast has plenty of fine actors. James and Riley make for a great on-screen couple. Their characters are both prideful but they aren't unlikable. Them learning humility makes for an endearing arc. The other couple, Jane and Bingley, are likable right off the bat. Matt Smith has the best moments as the Bennets' cousin, the obnoxious Parson Collins. 

The fight scenes are pretty good. They would've been better if they didn't engage in rapid fire editing. The special effects were decent. There were explosions, creating London's own great wall and even zombievision. The opening scene had all-too obvious CGI but I forgave it because it was unnerving. But for the rest of the movie, they did their job quite well. I have no complaints about the production design, Julian Day's costumes or Fernando Velazquez's score. They did the best jobs to fuse Wuxia, Zombies and Austen into one package. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies might annoy fans of Austen and Grahame-Smith with its liberties. But I didn't mind the changes. They at least kept me hooked as I wondered how the story would go. The action is as bloody as PG-13 ratings allow, but it's still bloody. So don't fear any zombie sanitation. It works as a martial arts film, a zombie film and a classic literature adaptation. And that's a good combination.

Youth

Paolo Sorrentino's previous film, The Great Beauty, won Italy its latest Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His latest film is the English-language existential drama Youth. It's an odd character study that keeps the Fellini style alive into this century.

Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is a retired composer best known for his arias entitled the "Simple Songs". Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) is a still-working director in pre-production for his last film, his "Testament." They're on Holiday in an Alpine resort. Their personal lives come to ahead.

An Emmisary for Queen Elizabeth wishes to recruit Fred for a Birthday Concert for Prince Phillip. But Fred won't do it. Mick's son Julian (Ed Stoppard) was married to Fred's daughter, Lena (Rachel Weisz). But then Julian left her for pop star Paloma Faith (as herself). Lena is already on strained terms with her father.  Meanwhile, actor Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano) joins Fred and Mick on their outings as he prepares for his newest role: Hitler.

Luca Bigazzi's cinematography covers both the surreal and mundane. There's a running gag about a Buddhist monk who supposedly can levitate which pays off. A few dream sequences. Long takes (such as the first shot). And of course, the Swiss Alps in all their glory. It certainly delivers in the visuals.

The problem is that I don't know what to make of it. The first dream sequence, where the resort seemingly floods, I didn't question. But when Lena's marital woes are visualized in a music video, I felt like I was watching another movie. A scene with Lena and her new rock-climber boyfriend was ruined by awful green screen. The breakdown of aged starlet Brenda Morrel (Jane Fonda) was a bit unintentionally funny (going berserk on an airplane). The tone shifts in ways I never thought surreal films could do. And they put me off.

But the music was good. David Lang's score was memorable, the highlight being the now Oscar-nominated Simple Song #3. We hear the opening violin notes a few times before soprano Sumi Jo sings it in the end. The orchestration of that song is powerful and its lyrics are ... well, simple. But it tells a lot about Fred's current life.

Youth is obviously not for those who want conventional narratives. I recognize its themes, including lost youth and loneliness, but I didn't connect. The slow pace and especially the tone shifts were its greatest weakness. I'm sure people of a certain age will connect with its themes. And I hope they'll love it more than me.

Trumbo

I had the foresight to pick up a copy of Bruce Cook's biography Dalton Trumbo back in September, but lacked the motivation to read it. Somebody who did read it was screenwriter John McNamara, who used it as the basis for the biopic Trumbo.

In 1947, Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) is one of Hollywood's top screenwriters. He's also a member of the Communist Party, which gets him subpoenaed to HUAC. Trumbo gets thrown in Prison when he refuses to answer the Politically-Biased committee. The Hollywood Studios subsequently blacklist him and his friends for their beliefs.

But this doesn't stop Trumbo and co. from getting work. They subvert the system by using fronts and aliases on their future screenplays. Frank King (John Goodman), proud producer of Z-Movies, is Trumbo's chief employer. Two of Trumbo's screen stories, Roman Holiday and The Brave One, both win Academy Awards. His secret business puts a strain on his relationships, especially with his wife, Cleo (Diane Lane), and daughter Nikola (Elle Fanning). Gossip Maven Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) threatens to expose him. Trumbo's secret is just the answer to smash the blacklist.

The film doesn't really demonize HUAC and its cooperators. Those that renounce their friends, like Edward G. Robinson (Michael Stuhlbarg), do so under extreme duress, which earns them audience sympathy. John Wayne (David James Elliot), All-American he is, won't doubt Robinson's motives for testifying when Hopper does. They believe they're doing the right thing but are just stubborn about it. Hopper, the most underhanded of them all, is dumbstruck when the blacklist crumbles.

The screenplay's biggest problem is that it speeds through obstacles. The Motion Picture Alliance threatens boycotts and citizens show contempt for Trumbo and his fellow commies. But they don't do much other than rattle sabers. Trumbo and co. just profit by ignoring their threats. They're never in danger of even almost getting exposed.

Trumbo's greatest strength is its cast. Bryan Cranston as Trumbo makes for a likable rogue; his Communist beliefs are well-intentioned rather than malicious. His supporting cast includes great emotional support from Lane and Fanning, as well as Louis C.K. as a fellow blacklisted writer. Goodman also stands out as Frank King; his best scene was him chasing out one of Hopper's cronies with a bat. Helen Mirren makes for a fine villain as Hopper.

 Dean O'Gorman and Christian Berkel also stand out as Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger, whose hiring of Trumbo for their epic films Spartacus and Exodus, helped kill the blacklist. Berkel, in particular, turns the infamously authoritarian Preminger into awesome comic relief.

Trumbo is a well-meaning portrait of a film legend. Its script isn't perfect but the cast sure is. The look into a screenwriter's life makes this a fascinating watch for aspiring writers everywhere. It at least shows how much a screen credit means for people.

Kung Fu Panda 3

Kung Fu Panda 3 is probably the last film you'd expect to get released in January. And it originally wasn't: it was supposed to come out last month until Fox/Dreamworks realized that opening anywhere near Star Wars was financial suicide. Fortunately, Po is here to provide some quality for the month best known for sub-par releases.

Po the Panda (Jack Black) still defends China from the forces of evil. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) retires and promotes Po to Kung Fu Master. His first day of teaching Kung Fu goes hilariously awry. And then a fellow Panda, Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), shows up. Po and Li Shan slowly catch on that they're father and son, while everyone else gets it right away. Meanwhile, Mr. Ping (James Hong), the goose who raised Po as his own son, doesn't like this development.

The evil warrior buffalo Kai (J. K. Simmons) comes back to life on a mission for chi (life force). He already defeated Shifu's Shifu Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) in the spirit realm and he's now hunting for the chi of China's Kung Fu Masters. Li Shan takes Po back to their Secret Panda Village to learn chi control. They'll have to do it quick, for Kai's and his army of "Jombies" (Jade Zombies) are coming closer.

This threequel keeps up the franchise's artistic standards. The animated cinematography and production design is just as grand as the previous two entries. The use of color, especially its use of green and gold, is striking. Its fight scenes mix humor and action quite well. And the character designs are all unique, even the Pandas'.

The characters themselves are adequate. The Kung Fu Panda himself is a delight, never obnoxious or crude. Po's antics are amusing, his endurance and determination are admirable. If they keep it up, the next few movies still won't get tiresome. Li Shan is just as fun-loving as his son and just as good. A new Panda, Mei Mei (Kate Hudson), speaks softly but with dialogue more suited for a "louder" actress. And Kai was a basic bad guy only redeemed by some backstory.

Hans Zimmer shared composer duties with John Powell in Parts 1 and 2. He now has sole duties this time around. His score complements the epicness of its visuals quite nicely. He even arranges two grand versions of Kung Fu Fighting, one of which is a Chinese translation!

Kung Fu Panda 3 feels like the end, even though Dreamworks wants to press on. Po's series-wide character arc is completed satisfactory. China's security is safe in his paws. Its only flaw were that its 95 minutes ran too fast, which deprived some characters of decent screen time. But that was a minor flaw in this animated epic. If the franchise continues, I hope that Dreamworks has a good plan for it.

The Revenant

Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu struck Oscar gold last year with Birdman, the fictional story of an actor's mental breakdown. He's mining again this year with The Revenant, the true story of frontiersman Hugh Glass.

In 1823, Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is part of a hunting party of fur trappers. An Arikara War Party is on their trail, suspecting them of abducting their chief's daughter. Morality and supplies are low on Glass's party after an Arikara attack. Captain Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) orders the party back to base. John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), a party member in it for the money, opposes the plan. He especially doesn't like Glass and his half-Pawnee son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck).

Glass soon picks the wrong Grizzly cubs to aim a rifle at. Their very angry mother rips him up before he kills her. Broken and bruised, he's left into the care of Fitzgerald, Hawk and Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) while the others go on ahead. Fitzgerald gets tired of waiting for Glass to naturally expire, so he decides to ditch him. When Hawk protests the plan, Fitzgerald kills him.

But Glass is very much alive. By shear force of will, he drags himself across the wilderness in search of Fitzgerald. It's not an easy process for him or the viewer.

The film relies on its visuals more than dialogue. Those visuals come courtesy of Emmanuel Lubezki, Oscar's reigning champ for cinematography for the last two years (and with this, possibly three). The wilderness is cold, bleak, and magnificent at the same time. The natural lighting does wonders to convey the film's dark mood. Lubezki's stock-in-trade long takes make the action scenes brutal and shocking.

The Grizzly attack is the primary reason why it has an Oscar nomination for visual effects, so let's give it a paragraph. A CGI bear inflecting realistic wounds on a real actor. Mama Bear's breath showing on camera. And for a final disgrace, Mama landing on Glass after both tumble down a hill. The whole scene lasts for about four minutes but you won't forget every bit.

The sound experience works too. The Oscar-nominated sound design adds to the movie's brutality. The opening Arikara attack, at one point, fades down the voices and sound effects to let Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto's haunting score take center stage. The Grizzly attack is punctuated by vicious thuds, roars and screams. And the aftermath of that scene? Mama's cubs moan for their dead Mama and we feel sad,

And what of the acting? DiCaprio makes for a convincing frontiersman. His body and spirit are broken, but he still soldiers on. Even when he gets his revenge, the last scene focuses on his eyes, as if he's wearily asking "now what?" Fitzgerald establishes himself from the beginning as a brutish, bigoted, greedy snake. As portrayed by Hardy, he's so easy to hate before he betrays Glass. And while Bridger had a hand in the desertion, he did so reluctantly and was remorseful, and he earns the audience's sympathy. Meanwhile, Captain Henry endears himself to the audience as the most upstanding man in the movie.

The Revenant's 156 minutes make it a tough sit on principle. You'll see blood and guts fly with non-stylized grace. It will disgust some and keep others away at an arm's pace. For better or worse, the imagery will stick with you long after the long movie ends. Its story is stretched out in places, I can tell, but its individual scenes kept me invested. Don't expect a simple walk in the woods. It's a dark epic movie, but an epic movie nonetheless.

Joy

I've had Joy on my schedule ever since its Christmas Day release. Or, I would have if I wasn't lazily putting it off every time I intended to see it. But I can't ignore it any longer. So here I go...

[After the movie ends...]

Why did I put this off?

Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is Joy Mangano, though her full name is never said. Her ex-husband, Tony (Edgar Ramirez), lives in her basement. Her mother, Terri (Virgina Madsen), lives on her bed watching soap operas. Her father, Rudy (Robert DeNiro), is an obnoxiously blunt mechanic who's now romancing a rich widow. Her half-sister, Peggy, hates her guts. Only her grandmother, Mimi (Diane Ladd), her two kids, and her best friend Jackie, give her sanity.

Joy also has a gift for inventing. One day, she draws up the Miracle Mop with crayons. The aforementioned rich widow, Trudy (Isabella Rossellini), is her primary investor. Joy needs someone to sell her new invention. That's where Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper) and QVC come in.

Director David O. Russell opens the film as a quirky dysfunctional family comedy. This is established right away with scenes set in Terri's favorite soap opera, the main character of which is named Danica (Susan Lucci). The soap opera plays up the absurdity of its medium to a T. And even Joy herself has quirky nightmares in that world. But then the drama comes front in center. You'll miss the quirkiness when it's gone.

Jennifer Lawrence, as Joy, makes the film worth it. She's a strong-willed woman held back by the world. But she'll find a way to light her darkest moments. She knows what she's doing unlike the first QVC spokesman for her Miracle Mop. Her first time on QVC gives her convincing stage fright, but a good phone call gives her a boost. She is as real as her main source of inspiration.

The supporting cast also helps. There are several characters (Rudy, Peggy, Joy's manufacturers) that you'll come to hate right away. And some you'll get to love (Tony, Neil). The actors really sell you on their characters' personalities. Among the cameos, Melissa Rivers stands out as her mother, Joan. She gets the latter's accent down perfectly.

Production designer Judy Becker wonderfully recreates both suburbia and QVC headquarters. The latter, with its rotating set and all-white kitchen, makes it a unique place to work. One highlight is a local musical that Tony gets Joy to star in. The sets, along with Linus Sandgren's cinematography, turns the moment from their stage characters falling in love to them falling in love. It's just a fine moment. The four editors (one of whom is reigning Oscar champ Tom Cross) create a cohesive project that gets you in the right moods.

Joy itself says that it's "inspired by true stories of powerful women and one in particular." It may not be Mangano's true story, but it is a compelling story of a woman who stood her ground and won. You'll be rooting for her every step of the way.

Carol

Patricia Highsmith created The Talented Mr. Ripley and those murderous Strangers on a Train to mainstream success. Her second novel, The Price of Salt, was released to controversial success. And now, this defining work in Lesbian literature is visualized by director Todd Haynes' latest film, which names itself for one of its two leads: Carol.

Christmas season, 1952. Therese Belivert (Rooney Mara) is a department store shopgirl. One day, she does business with the alluring socialite Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett). Carol leaves her gloves behind, so Therese mails them back to her. That's when their relationship goes from business to personal. Very personal. Therese is unprepared for the emotion when Carol's soon to be ex-husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler), shows up.

Harge starts a custody battle for his and Carol's daughter, Rindy, using Carol's past affairs against her. So Carol invites Therese for a long road trip. They'll be OK as long as they have each other. As long as the world doesn't intrude on them...

The technical experience is one reason why Carol works. The world of 1950's New York is rendered in soft, elegant colors. It's the cinematic equivalent of a quiet date with soft music. The best part of it is that we see what Therese sees in Carol. Carol is simply beautiful and mysterious. The cinematography, costume design and makeup complete her alluring, upper class look. Carter Burwell's score adds to the romantic mood without overdoing it.

The acting is the other reason. Blanchett is perfect, as usual, playing Carol as both confident and vulnerable. Therese, as played by Mara, is less sure of herself but good-hearted. Their romantic chemistry is just as believable as the best "traditional" cinematic couples. Chandler's Harge is both a brutish bore and a desperate fool whose actions are unsympathetic and desperate. Abby (Sarah Paulson), Carol's ex-lover and still friend, sternly stands between Harge and the two lovers with ease.

Carol attracts Oscar attention with graceful subtlety instead of loud begging. That makes it the right kind of Oscar Bait. A casual moviegoer will experience a great cinematic love story. Its themes of romance and friendship will transcend any reservations about its "un-traditional" subject matter.