Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Jack Sparrow ain't retired. He just biding his time. After numerous production snags, Johnny Depp's swashbuckling alter-ego is back for another 3D adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. It's more of the same yarns of swashbuckling supernatural shenanigans, for better or worse.

Our favorite Captain Jack is down-and-out after he and his crew botch a bank robbery. He's so glum that he barters his magic compass for a bottle of rum. The Compass doesn't like Jack giving it up so easily and releases his greatest fear. Said greatest fear is a crew of ghostly Spanish Pirate Hunters captained by Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem).

Meanwhile, Jack runs into Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), whose father Will (Orlando Bloom) is the cursed captain of the cursed Flying Dutchman. Henry wants Jack to help him find the Trident of Poseidon, the MacGuffin that can undo the Dutchman's curse. An astrologer and horologist, Carnia Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), has a map to the Trident. Salazar wants the Trident to enact his undead vengeance on all the Pirates of the sea. Salazar ropes Jack's frenemy Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) into service to find Jack and the Trident. And some Navy jerks want it too.

It's a convoluted plot, that's for sure. But you'll be shocked to know that it runs for just 129 minutes. The directing duo of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) keep things going quickly. It almost never drags its feet. It also helps that Captain Jack's antics are still amusing as always. We also have a memorable villain in the ghostly Captain Salazar. The supporting cast is a good bunch, even if some of their characters are superfluous.

There are questions that may make or break it. I've got a few. The film says Salazar is Jack's greatest fear. But how can that be if Jack can't remember his name? Why are the Navy guys in the movie if Salazar takes them out before they even see the Trident, and therefore, not an overall threat? I must also question when this film's supposed to take place, considering the guillotine's just been invented. It's still a wonder that it's nowhere near the elephantine 168 minutes of At World's End.

Its set pieces aim to top each other in rapid succession. There's Jack's opening bank robbery, which goes from robbing a bank vault to robbing the actual bank building. There's the daring double-execution save of Jack and Carina by Henry. All of it ends with the mainly undersea battle for the Trident. Salazar and his crew are realized by creepy CGI. The undead sea creatures are just as creepy. The physical makeup equally beautifies and uglifies the cast with ease. Paul McCartney's cameo was barely recognizable because of it.

Dead Men Tell No Tales promises to be the last of Captain Jack's big-screen adventures. But there's always talk of a sequel and the end credit scene hints at a long lost character's return. What more can there be? This movie ended what At World's End "started." I'm not holding my breath for Captain Jack's return. At least we have a decent matinee on our hands to get summer moving. It's not revolutionary but it's not dreadful.

Alien: Covenant

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I made sense out of Prometheus then and now. But I'm aware then and now that not everybody did. Among the many complaints was that it didn't make up its mind if it was an honest prequel to Alien. 

For the sequel, the 2010 to Prometheus's 2001, its franchise intentions are a lot clearer. Once again directed by Ridley Scott, this is Alien: Covenant, a film whose answers are surprisingly not underwhelming.

The starship Covenant is on a voyage to the planet Origae-6. Their seven-year ETA is wrecked by a solar flare which kills a few personnel by cryotube malfunction (like the captain, cameoed by James Franco). Good thing the android Walter (Michael Fassbender) doesn't need hypersleep or he wouldn't be around to get up the rest of the crew.

Naturally, the crew doesn't want to go back to hypersleep. So when they pinpoint a new world to colonize that's even closer, the new captain Oram (Billy Crudup) orders full-speed ahead. Daniels (Katherine Waterston), the terraforming expert and the late captain's wife, is skeptical about the new planet. But everything's fine down there. Except for the organisms that infect live humans with vicious monstrosities.

The landing crew is decimated by the "Neomorphs" until they're saved by the android David (also Fassbender), last survivor of the Prometheus. Their new world was that of the "Engineers," the creators of the human race. David's been tinkering with their technology to create his own perfect organism. His crowning achievement is the Alien itself, the "Xenomorph." The survivors of the Covenant must work hard if they want to live.

The characters are a mixed bunch. On the one hand, some characters, like the dead captain, barely get development (or none) before they bite it. They get more in some scenes featured in the trailers, but not in the film itself. On the other hand, the characters we know the most are great. Tennessee (Danny McBride), the pilot, is the best of the humans with great lines and development. Daniels is a capable action heroine as much as Ellen Ripley in the classic tetralogy. Michael Fassbender has great chemistry with himself times two and the rest of the cast. Strong CGI (except one smudgy spot) helps him converse whole scenes with himself.

And the monstrosities themselves? Scary. They're both visualized by great motion capture work. The Neomorph makes for a great new addition to the movie monster Parthenon. The Xenomorph don't show up until the last fourth or so of the movie. They won't disappoint. Yes, there's two of them. The extra one nearly took a point off for me for ending fatigue until I remembered Alien and Aliens.

It's another technical achievement from Scott. The great production design by Chris Seagers visualizes such eerie locales as the Engineers' capital and David's lair. The Covenant itself is a nice ship on par with the Ares of The Martian until things go south. Dariusz Wolski's cinematography and the effects which visualized those locales was also excellent.  The costume and makeup design also get their jobs done. Editor Pietro Scalia builds up the relentless suspense with ease. Jed Kurzel's score mixes some of Prometheus's and Alien's tracks, often overshadowing his own. His best composition accompanies the debut of the Neomorph.

Alien: Covenant's answers may not be for everyone. Its horror isn't for everybody. I got through both those parts OK. I found a fascinating theme about a creation destroying its creator emerging. Add the film's quoting Ozymandias, and I think David's future isn't as secure as he thinks. I want to see if I'm right about it. It was a 122 minute sci-fi horror film that never bored me. The next installment is apparently coming within two years from now. And I'm already ready.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

There's always room for King Arthur in Hollywood. His last screen appearance was a same-titled 2004 dud about the "real deal." I vaguely remember it being drab. Guy Ritchie's reinvention, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, is slightly more memorable for its oddities. But at least it resembles the myths more than the "real deal."

The evil Vortigern (Jude Law) hates his good brother, Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), king of Camelot. So he cooks up a scheme with the mage Mordred and some Sea Hags to dispose of the Royals. Uther's son Arthur gets away and is found by some Londinium ladies. Years later, Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) is a rowdy guy with equally rowdy friends. They rough up bad guys, like the Viking who roughed up Arthur's adopted mother. But the Viking was a guest of Vortigern. Uh, shackles...

When the Sword in the Stone is discovered, Arthur is last in line to pull it out. Arthur gets in front and the sword, thus proving him the Once and Future King. But the sword is too powerful for the untrained mind. So a mage (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) frees Arthur and gets him to Sir Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou). Naturally, they're here to help him control the sword and cut down Vortigern. Arthur has his doubts.

As with Ritchie's last film, The Man from UNCLE, there are four writers on the story/screenplay. You'd think there'd be a few dozen more. It throws a lot of questions around in quick succession. What's the deal with the Sea Hags? How come this human/mage war the intro text exposits is barely explored? Is Vortigern a power-hungry psycho or a remorseful man putting up a tyrannical front? The film's editing style overwhelmed its attempt at cohesive storytelling. Arthur's growing up montage went by faster than a speeding bullet. A few other scenes zig-zag in time in rapid succession. 

The film's best characters were the Sea Hags themselves. OK, they're called the Syrens. They're the most bizarre part of the film as they're equal parts creepy and unintentionally funny. They only really appear in one scene and I wish there was more. The human characters were uninteresting standard action characters. Except maybe Vortigern, but that's because he occasionally turns into a demon knight that looks like Skeletor. There was nothing wrong with them as a whole, but nothing special either.

The film's best visual effects, other than the Sea Hags Syrens, were the beyond skyscraper-sized war elephants in the prologue. Yes, this sounds like the Mumak, but they're still terrifying monstrosities. Their roar is simply astounding. The action scenes are pretty good when you can tell what's going on. Unfortunately, the opposite happens a lot. Camelot itself is recreated with fine sets by production designer Gemma Jackson. Annie Symons' costume design complements the gritty fantasy tone well. The same goes for the makeup work. 

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hopes to be the first of a six-film series. They forgot to make an engaging first installment. Its heavy style over substance makes the 126 minutes tough to sit through. It's one thing to reinvent a story that's been done for ages. It's another to make that reinvention something worth watching. Let's hope the next person who pulls King Arthur back to the screen have a great idea in mind.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Marvel's mightiest rogues are back. The Guardians of the Galaxy have more space to explore and beats to jam to. Once again with James Gunn writing and directing their adventure, they're here in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

So the Guardians of the Galaxy now work as heroic mercenaries. Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), Baby Groot (Vin Diesel), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista) open the film by slaying an inter-dimensional monster. The "Abilisk" was after the Anulax Batteries, the power source of the snobbish, chrome Sovereign race. Nebula (Karen Gillian), Gamora's estranged evil sister, was also after the batteries. The Sovereign proudly hand Nebula over to the Guardians once they deal with the Abilisk. Rocket helps himself to some of the batteries and the Sovereign notice. Their drones shoot up the Guardians' ship and make them crash on another planet.

The Guardians meet Ego (Kurt Russell), the Avatar of a living planet and Star Lord's mysterious father. Ego and his ward, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) take Star Lord, Gamora and Drax to visit himself, while the others repair the ship. Unfortunately, the B-Team is found by the Ravagers, Star Lord's old space pirate crew. Fortunately, Yondu (Michael Rooker), the Ravager captain and Star Lord's stepfather, is a cool guy. But the Ravager Taserface (Chris Sullivan) isn't and mutinies with Nebula's help.

Meanwhile, the A-Team is living nicely on Planet Ego. But Gamora realizes something's amiss. Ego's up to something with Peter and the Guardians will have to join with their new allies to stop it.

It's a busy plot but it's not incomprehensible. You'll remember everybody and their part in the story. They're all a fun bunch of galactic misfits and deities. They have deep issues, whether it's with family or their stolen stuff, to work out during the film's 135 minutes. And it's a funny and compelling ride. Best of all, the film knows how to bring even the smallest plot points full circle. Even a funny jab from the first movie takes on a dark meaning.

Let's expand on the characters. The established Guardians are great; their chemistry and characterization worked here as the last movie. Yondu is still a cool old guy. Nebula's a sympathetic character even if she's quite antagonistic. Kurt Russell as Ego seemed like a cool old guy until we find out his secret. Mantis is endearing. Sylvester Stallone made a welcome cameo as the Ravager Starhawk. And who can forget Marvel's fowlest character, Howard the Duck, who has a nice background cameo in one scene? 

And Stan Lee was there too.

The technical Marvels deliver again as usual. There's a wonderfully eclectic bunch of Aliens and Planets created by the Production Designer Scott Chambliss and Visual Effects department. Ego himself is a visual Marvel; wait till you see inside him. Costume Designer Judianna Makovsky dresses the galaxy in a wonderfully fancy display. The Makeup department standout with the chrome Sovereigns and Ego's rugged appearance. The music, whether Tyler Bates' score or the old standards, is pretty good.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is just as funny and exciting as the first movie. The story makes it a meaningful ride through the cosmos. Once you're done, you'll want more. Sure enough, they'll be back for Avengers: Infinity War next year and the inevitable Vol. 3 sometime soon.

The film gives us five prerequisite credit scenes. Two of them expand on Lee and Stallone's cameos, two more are funny bits and another promises another foe for the Guardians on the pipeline.

Smurfs: The Lost Village

The last time I smurfed out a Smurfs movie, I don't remember smurfing liking it. So what smurfed my attention back to the land of little blue people? A new smurfing direction for one thing! Whereas the last two Smurf movies mixed live-action and animation, Smurfs: The Lost Village is completely animated. And surprisingly, this exceeds any smurfy expectations.

This smurffest reiterates how Smurfette (Demi Lovato) was created by the evil Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) and turned good by Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin). Everything's smurffing great in Smurf Village for everybody but Smurfette. They've all got clearly defined smurffing personalities but her. So she explores the wall surrounding this Forbidden Forrest. She finds someone roaming around. That someone drops a Smurf Cap of a different color, which means there's more where that came from.

That's great news for Gargamel, who wants all their Smurffin essence for himself. So Smurfette sets out with Hefty Smurf (Joe Manganiello), Clumsy Smurf (Jack McBrayer) and Brainy Smurf (Danny Pudi) to locate the other Smurfs to warn them about Gargamel. Strange creatures await them. A bigger surprise awaits them when they meet the new Smurfs.

What's there to smurffing like about it? The humor is nowhere near as obnoxious as The Smurfs 2. The characters were likable in their own ways. The voice cast characterize them pretty well (even if Gargamel's casting change needs some getting used to).The story went along at a mostly nicely paced 90 minutes. Should I say smurffing more? I think I should.

The visual department get some smurffing points. The animated environments looked good, but the floating river was awesome. The textures of the Smurfs' clothing looked incredibly real. The creatures the Smurfs meet were nicely designed. The Smurfs themselves are uniquely defined despite their chromatic similarities.

The story is where it nearly trips on its big feet. Our heroes have a mostly placid journey. The Floating River sequence was intense and a scene with neon bunnies was fun, but that's about it. Speaking of the main bunny, Bucky, what's up with him glowing neon even in daylight? Barely anything is a serious threat until Gargamel finally finds the hidden Smurf village. That is why I said it was  "mostly nicely paced." The climax hinges on Smurfette being invulnerable to Gargamel's magic due to her origin. And Gargamel so doesn't consider her a threat it's laughable. The last few minutes were emotional even if the outcome was obvious.

Smurfs: The Lost Village is a smurffin improvement over The Smurfs 2. It's not spectacular, but it's not spectacularly cringeworthy. It's a nice, quiet pre-summer matinee for the whole family. Or it's a nice, summer matinee provided you can find it still in the next few weeks. Given its slow reception at the box office, you might have the whole theater to yourself. 

I didn't.

The Fate of the Furious

Or, never count a franchise out prematurely...

The "last" installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise wasn't it. So there's another movie with Fast cars at Furious speeds. This installment continues those traditions along with its wildly-varying title system. This time it's The Fate of the Furious.

Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), spend their honeymoon in Havana.The evil hacker super-villain Cipher (Charlize Theron) blackmails Dom into her services. Dom runs Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) off the road during a mission in Berlin and takes their prize: an EMP device. Hobbs gets disavowed and incarcerated, but is let out with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the last movie's big bad. They and Dom's fellow racers have to stop Cipher from starting World War III. This will surely bring them in conflict with Dom.

And that's it for plot.

F. Gary Gray is the latest man behind the director's wheel, riding alongside screenwriter Chris Morgan. They continue the franchise's long tradition of wild car chases and stunts. It's most insane when Cipher and her goons set every car in Manhattan loose on a Russian diplomat's convoy. The climactic chase against Cipher's hijacked submarine was also spectacular. But the best bit is how Dom gets away from Cipher in the end.

Perhaps catching up on the previous installments is necessary this time. Part of the plot concerns Elena (Elsa Pataky), a character who first appeared in Fast Five, but I forgot about her till now. A few characters from the fourth movie, Fast & Furious, appear in key supporting roles. But I still remembered that the MacGuffin of Fast & Furious 6 was an EMP-Device like the one here. Huh. Fortunately, other details like Shaw's history with our heroes was properly explained.

But the cast still worked wonders. Johnson and Statham are just as efficient comedians as they are action stars. Some of the film's best laughs come from their hilariously over-the-top bickering. The other established stars are still a reliable crew as always. Cipher is so vile that the audience wants her dead. There's also a delightful cameo from Helen Mirren as Shaw's mother Magdalene. 

I won't guess if The Fate of the Furious really is the last one. Remember last time? The end leaves it open for yet another sequel. And they still make money. Anyway, it's a good pre-summer blockbuster. It gives the audience elaborate action and reasons to care about it. Let's hope that a prospective ninth movie won't make the franchise crash and burn. The ride's been good so far.

The Boss Baby

Marla Frazee's book, The Boss Baby, gleefully exaggerates the working conditions of new parents under demanding infants. Now they're corporate drones under demanding tycoons. That I can believe. Dreamworks' animated expansion of this story raises a lot of perplexing questions.

Tim Templeton (Toby Maguire) narrates the story of his childhood days. Seven-year-old Timmy (Miles Bakshi) is happy with his mom (Lisa Kudrow) and dad (Jimmy Kimmel). One day, mom and dad bring home a little tyke in a business suit. The new arrival bosses around the parents and leaves Timmy in the dust. He thinks the "Boss Baby's" business suit is weird. That's until he hears the little man talk.

The Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin) is an upstart executive at Baby Corp, an organization run by babies who act like adults because of their Secret Baby Formula. Their job is to make sure babies get lots of love and attention. But the evil Puppy Co. has been cutting in their love margin. That company's CEO Francis E. Francis (Steve Buscemi) has a deviously cute puppy in the works. Mom and Dad Templeton happen to work for Puppy Co. Boss Baby and Timmy will have to act like brothers to stop this evil plan. Otherwise, Boss Baby is out of a job.

A press summary of this bizarre story flat-out calls Tim an unreliable narrator. Timmy gets a few imagine spots of daring adventures that dissolve to reality. Is the whole movie an imagine spot for Timmy's promotion to big brother? The finale doesn't clarify what all the elaborations represented. Its last shot makes it look like some of it happened. So, what?

It still raises a disturbing, satirical point about people who view puppies as "accessories." No, not taking away all the baby love margin. It's the surplus. Francis E. Francis even unveils the new puppy like Steve Jobs would unveil his new Apple product. It's not explored all the way, but the inference is still there.

The voice actors make the story bearable. Alec Baldwin's clearly having fun as Boss Baby. He's the enthusiastic corporate raider we'd love to hate if he were any older. As he shows his sympathetic side early on, he becomes the corporate raider we'd love to admire. Bakshi is also perfectly cast as the over-imaginative protagonist. Buscemi's Francis E Francis, while delightfully evil, has an understandable backstory. Conrad Vernon is also great as Francis's henchman/brother Eugene.

So what about the technical work? Well, the colors and animation are good. The imagine spots provide some wonderfully bizarre visuals. Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazarro's score is lively and Cheek to Cheek is a nice leitmotif. The sound was OK, though one line sounded dirtier than what it was because it was barely discernible. It was nothing Oscar worthy, but it worked for what it was.

The Boss Baby's weird story may certainly entertain impressionable kids. They'll think about life's little mysteries years from now; adults will think about this film's mysteries once they're done. It's an OK matinee for a flatscreen showing. Just don't think about it too much. 

Ghost in the Shell

Masamune Shirow's cyberpunk manga opus The Ghost in the Shell took off once its anime film version premiered in 1995. There were anime follow-ups in television and theaters, but this latest incarnation, Ghost in the Shell, is live-action. It's a visual accomplishment but its story could've used fine-tuning.

In the not so distant future, humanity has upgraded themselves with technology. The evil Hanka Corporation have found a way to upload human minds (Ghosts) into androids (Shells). Their first creation is Major Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson), sole-survivor of a terrorist attack. One year after the incident, she works for the counter-terrorism force Section 9 under Chief Aramaki (Takeshi Kitano). She can free-fall from buildings with ease, turn invisible and fight a room full of villains.

The android Kuze (Michael Pitt) sets out to kill Hanka officials. When Killian and her partner, Batou (Pilou Asbæk) investigate, she realizes her past isn't what it seems. Kuze has the answers to her hazy past. The evil Hanka head Mr. Cutter (Peter Ferdinando) decides to terminate her before she finds out.

Director Rupert Sanders works from a screenplay by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler and Ehren Kruger. It discusses profound themes such as reality and identity as much as its predecessors. How it chooses to discuss them may make or break the film. On one hand, there's a subplot about a garbageman (Daniel Henshall) who gets brainwashed into a Kuze sleeper agent. On the other hand, there's the revelation of Mira's true identity. The first bit is subtle and the garbageman is the best of the bit characters. The second is a bit extreme. These themes are sometimes blunted by the action, the overabundance of which blunts it even further.

How about the principal characters? Johansson is a compelling lead as Mira; she's believable as a cyborg struggling with her emotions. Her chemistry with Asbæk was fine. Speaking of which, Asbæk makes for a cool guy as Batou. Juliette Binoche provided warm moral support as Mira's chief scientist, Dr. Ouelet. Takeshi Kitano was great as Chief Aramaki. The other characters of Section 9 were just there and barely had much insight. Meanwhile, Pitt and Ferdinando were acceptable as the villains.

The technical areas are where the film impresses the most. The production, costume and makeup designers do a splendid job of recreating the source material's designs. The best accomplishments of the visual effects team are merging CGI-mechanical parts with real actors. How do they put on Batou's mechanical eyes? Mira's camouflage suit is another visual highlight. The giant holographic ads across the city were pretty nifty too. The worse effect was the obvious CGI "spider-fingers" on some random character. On the bright side, Jess Hall's cinematography really illuminate the city at night. Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe's score is OK; not exactly memorable but not bad. Kenji Kawai provides the closing credits with a redo of his much more memorable opening theme of the first movie.

Ghost in the Shell is a movie with good intentions. But it struggles to balance its melancholic and choleric tendencies. It wants to have it both ways but it's struggling with its programming. Still, at 102 minutes, it wasn't really boring. If you want a great looking sci-fi movie, this will do fine. If you want a great looking, profound, sci-fi movie, you may want to wait for Blade Runner 2049.

Power Rangers

In 1984, businessman Haim Saban was introduced to the Super Sentai TV series in a Japanese hotel room. He thought the concept of rainbow-spandexed super heroes with giant robots punching rubber monsters was a good concept. He just needed to re-contextualize the action scenes with new material starring American actors. After years of rejection, his concept became a 90's cultural legacy: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

It was a matter of time before Saban's low-budget concept became a big-budget reboot film. And with director Dean Israelite, the Power Rangers are back on the big screen for the first time since 1997. The end result is unlike anything you'd expect from the franchise.

Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) used to be a High School Football Star until a prank benched him in detention. He immediately befriends nerdy Billy Cranston (RJ Cyler), who invites him to explore the local quarry. Their trespassing attracts the attention of disgraced former cheerleader Kimberley Hart (Naomi Scott) and loners Zack Taylor (Ludi Lin) and Trini (Becky G). They soon find five glowing coins that make them stronger than before.

Further exploring leads them to a ship. They meet the ancient warrior Zordon (Bryan Cranston), who's now a face on a wall, and his robot helper Alpha 5 (Bill Hader). Zordon tells them they are the Power Rangers, who must defend Earth and its life-giving Zeo Crystal from evil. Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), the treacherous Green Ranger, has risen to take the crystal for herself. The Rangers have to become friends if they are to morph and take on Rita and her giant minion, Goldar.

The film spends a lot of time developing the Rangers' personalities and relationships. The cast succeeds quite well. We get to know them well beyond their chromatic arrangements. They behave like teenagers with attitude than paragons of virtue. Their problems are understandable. They only morph within the last half-hour; their chemistry makes it worth it.

What about the supporting cast? Banks is certainly a standout as Rita. She's delightfully hammy and legitimately creepy, sometimes in the same scene. Cranston is reliable as always as Zordon, who has an ulterior motive for training the Rangers. Hader was nice as the voice of the snarky, yet nice Alpha 5. David Denman is also great as Jason's father, Sam.

There's a lot of effort in this production. The Rangers' new armored suits are practical costumes with CGI enhancements. You'll be fine with them once you see them in action. The same goes for their Zords and their combined Megazord form. In fact, the best visual effect scene of the film was the Megazord rising from the ground. It helps a lot that the action is coherently strung together by editors Dody Dorn and Martin Bernfeld. Matthew J. Lloyd's cinematography is also great. Brian Tyler's score is also worth a listen.

Power Rangers is a good mix of seriousness and silliness. There's some minor story nitpicks but they're minor in the grand scheme of things. It's story is a lot more profound than what you'd might expect from the franchise. It's a good way to pass the time before the latest incarnation, Power Rangers Ninja Steel, returns from its hiatus this fall. Its mid-credit scene promises another ranger in the sequel.

Beauty and the Beast

I was five when Beauty and the Beast came out. I still remember what trailers were on it (Father of the Bride and The Great Mouse Detective). So now, Disney's "tale as old as time" has gotten itself a live-action rendition. It's still effective even if we know the score.

Belle (Emma Watson) is the smartest girl in her "poor, provincial town" of Villeneuve. The townsfolks thinks she's strange, while the hunter and war-hero Gaston (Luke Evans) sees her as a prize. Her widowed father, Maurice (Kevin Kline), goes off to market. Maurice is redirected by happenstance to a snowy castle and is imprisoned by its beastly master.

Belle goes off to the castle. She meets The Beast (Dan Stevens) and trades herself for her father. Belle refuses to do anything with The Beast; she brings out his best qualities with time. Meanwhile, Maurice tries to get help for Belle and Gaston reveals his worst qualities.

Director Bill Condon works from a script by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. It contains the familiar story beats and songs from the animated classic. It expands the story to provide backstories for the titular protagonists and fill in plot holes. The original's 84 minutes become this film's 129 minutes. It still tells a compelling story with capable leads. The ending is still emotional even if it's common knowledge.

The Enchanted Servants, like Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), Cogsworth (Ian McKellen) and Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), are still entertaining. Gaston is still a big creep and Maurice is a lot tougher than his animated counterpart. The best supporting character is Gaston's sidekick LeFou (Josh Gad), who's far from the sycophant his animated version was. LeFou is more of a character than a punching bag this time around.

Alan Menken's familiar music is still welcome after 25 years. The new orchestrations are as memorable as the old. The revised lyrics of a few songs weren't intrusive. The score adds new songs with lyrics by Tim Rice, filling in for the late Howard Ashman, just like the Broadway version. These new songs fit right in with the old standards.

Production Designer Sarah Greenwood and Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran perfectly visualize the animated film. They perfectly contrast the opulence/decay of The Beast's castle and the humbleness of Villeneuve. The makeup team's best work is Agathe (Hattie Morahan), the Enchantress who cursed The Beast, who grows younger with time. The Beast himself is visualized with pretty good motion-capture work.

Beauty and the Beast works just the same as the animated version. You've heard the story before, but it's still compelling after all these years. The characters are believable and the tone is earnest. It feels like seeing this story for the first time. A great achievement.

Nothing left to say.

Kong: Skull Island

The most famous big ape is back.

Peter Jackson followed his first trip to Middle-Earth with a three-hour recreation of 1933's 100 minute-long King Kong. Now, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts follows his debut feature, The Kings of Summer, with Kong's latest, Kong: Skull Island.

Bill Randa (John Goodman) has photographic evidence of an uncharted island in the South Pacific. He figures that strange and powerful creatures thrive there. He gets an expedition to "Skull Island" going just as the White House pulls the plug on the Vietnam War. Col. Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) is happy to get some work escorting the mission. Also on deck include geologist  Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins), tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddelston) and photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson).

The expedition braves Skull Island's permanent storm-system to encounter paradise. They proceed to bomb it to see if the Hollow Earth theory holds out. King Kong immediately appears and knocks them out of the sky. They're all separated after this.

Meanwhile, freaky lizard things called Skullcrawlers emerge to eat and maim. Kong is the only thing keeping them in check and he's the last of his kind. Conrad and friends learn this from Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly), a stranded pilot from WWII. Col. Packard wants to kill Kong to avenge his fallen comrades. Our heroes have to keep that from happening if they want to get off the Island.

Since this King Kong is over 100 ft tall, don't expect him to climb the Empire State Building anytime soon.

The screenplay doesn't rehash the 1933 template unlike the other two remakes. It's just an expedition to Skull Island. It juggles the stories of the two groups quite well. The scientific explanations don't weigh down the film at all. Plus, it gives a profoundly prophetic line as Randa remarks "there will never be a more screwed up time in Washington than now." It also masters the mood whiplash cut: a soldier falling into Kong's waiting mouth cuts to another eating a sandwich.

What about the characters? Marlow is not only funny but one of the sanest characters in the movie. Conrad and Weaver were fine. Packard is likable even after he goes Ahab on Kong. A few other characters were hard to keep track of, but they were mainly the Red Shirts. Biologist San Lin (Jing Tian) could've used more characterization. It would've been nice if Gunpei Ikari (Miyavi), Marlow's enemy turned friend, was shown more.

What about the star? Kong appears in full in the first half-hour. He shows up more frequently than Godzilla in his 2014 movie. He's mainly angry or stern through out the movie. We get a scene where we see him sad and lonely. Kong and his fellow creatures are have great designs and realized by nice CGI. Kong is portrayed with motion-capture by actors Terry Notary and Tobe Kebbell, the latter of whom appears in the flesh as a Mauve Shirt.

Cinematographer Larry Fong shows off Kong's size and the Skull Island landscape with his great work. The visual style fits right in with Apocalypse Now as much as its story's tone. While Wagner isn't involved, a fine score by Henry Jackman and some old standards set the scenes. Editor Richard Pearson keeps the film going good for 119 minutes. The sound work is pretty good too.

Kong: Skull Island believes that bigger monsters are better than bigger run times. It also helps that it has humans that the audience can identify with. It gives a welcome fresh spin to the story of cinema's greatest big ape. It's a blessing in a world where remakes simply rehash a classic template. An awesome blessing.

Its prerequisite end credit scene gives us a glimpse for Kong's future, which involves the King of the Monsters and friends. Yay.

Logan

The Wolverine is back, again.

Once again, and perhaps for the last time embodied by Hugh Jackman, our favorite clawed mutant ditches his moniker for his real name in Logan. It's unlike any X-Men film you've seen before.

It's the future and it's terrible. Mutants are pretty much extinct. It's just Logan, Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and the tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant). Professor X is senile and his mental abilities frequently go out of whack as result. Logan is a chauffeur and assists Caliban in taking care of Professor X. Logan's healing powers are also failing and his adamantium skeleton is killing him. Like I said, not good.

Logan is given a job by a nurse named Gabriella. His mission, that he begrudgingly accepts, is to escort her daughter, Laura (Dafne Keene), to a place called Eden. The evil corporation Transigen and its Reaver agents want Laura badly. She's a mutant test subject with much of Logan's abilities. Logan doesn't want to get involved but Laura won't let him quit. He'll have to fight the evil Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his own degenerating health to get Laura to safety.

The film eschews all restraint in its superpowered action. Unlike Deadpool, it doesn't display blood and guts for laughs. Our heroes slice up the bad guys and get hurt themselves. Even civilians get in the crossfire. Every bit of carnage was impactful. The film's ending is especially powerful if you've seen the series from the beginning. That includes all the "bad" films.

The screenstory, by director James Mangold, defines our cast perfectly. Logan still fights like his old, reliable self, even if he's otherwise lost the will to live. He finds a purpose in fathering Laura. Laura is a killing machine but she's still a moody child. Their interactions were believable. Professor X is funny when in his harmless rants, warm in his sage advice and compelling in his emotional moments. Pierce is a perfectly despicable villain as is Transigen head scientist Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant). The actors had much to work with and pulled it off.

There's much to admire in the technical department. The makeup crew aged up Jackman and Stewart quite well and rendered many unique mutants. The sound designers make Professor X's psychic seizures perfectly excruciating for us as the characters find them. The visual effects once again conjure up an eclectic display of mutant powers. The film's best effect is the digital work that allowed Jackman to play the brutish X-24. You wouldn't think it was digital at all.

It's best to quit when you're ahead. Logan is a perfect exit for Jackman from the franchise. It's well-acted, well-scripted and nicely paced at 137 minutes. It's also a good finale for the X-Men franchise except I hear Fox isn't done. At least this makes a lot of hiccups in the franchise worth it.

The whole experience kicks off with a special short/teaser for Deadpool 2, which won't shoot till June. It's "coming ... not soon enough."

The Great Wall

Zhang Yimou is well-known for his visually stunning filmography which includes Hero, House of Flying Daggers and The Curse of the Golden Flower. He continues his visual expertise with his first film in English, The Great Wall.

William Garin (Matt Damon) and Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are mercenaries in China looking to steal some gunpowder. Their fellow regiments are dead from bandits and monsters. William has the monster's arm to prove the latter. They find the Great Wall and are taken prisoner by its regiment, The Nameless Order.

The aforementioned monster is a Taotie, one of legions which feeds on anything in sight. They rise up every sixty years to try to attack China, hence the Great Wall. They're back now and they're getting smarter. William decides to stay and fight. Meanwhile, Tovar and fellow prisoner Ballard (Willem Dafoe) plot to swipe some gunpowder and scram.

Zhang's visual style is the film's selling point. The Nameless Order is dressed in armor of the brightest hues designed by Mayes C. Rubeo. Their "Crane Unit," led by the main heroine, Lin Mei (Jing Tian), bungee-jump with spears. They have elaborate weaponry such as flaming cannonballs and giant rotating blades. Production Designer John Myhre's digital and practical sets are massive and impressive. The two cinematographers, Zhao Xiaoding and Stuart Dryburgh, contribute to the splendor. It's not hard to see why it cost $150 million.

It took six writers, including Max Brooks and Tony Gilroy, to come up with the story. One might think it's a typical White Savior story that should've died years ago. But that's not really the case. Our hero, William, learns more from the Chinese than they from him. He goes from selfish individual to selfless teammate. He doesn't surpass the Nameless Order. In fact, He and Lin Mei play an equal part defeating the Taotie at the end. The other significant members, Strategist Wang (Andy Lau), General Shao (Zhang Hanyu) and Peng Yong (Lu Han), contribute significantly to the plot.

There are some issues with the story. My biggest gripe is in the first Taotie attack. William and Tovar are held at spear-point by soldiers who should've been defending the Wall. Why not the dungeon? Tovar and Ballard betray William by stealing the gunpowder and leaving him to take the rap. William reconciles with Tovar, but they don't have much chemistry, so it wasn't that believable. The circumstances of their imprisonment reminded me of too many movies/shows with that scenario. And Tovar hints at a sordid past for William that's only vaguely explained.

The Great Wall is a decent film with great visuals. It's never boring as it goes through 104 minutes quite nicely. It's worth seeing on the big screen at least once. It's already gotten me further interested in seeing more Chinese Epics on the big screen.

The Lego Batman Movie

There are a lot of reasons why The Lego Movie is awesome. One reason I didn't mention in my review was its exaggerated take on Batman. And now, the plastic Dark Knight has a movie alongside the real ones. This, of course, is The Lego Batman Movie.

Batman (Will Arnett) begins his movie by stopping The Joker's (Zach Galifianakis) latest scheme. He's still dark and awesome after eighty years; he's also alone and prefers it that way. Especially since his parents were murdered ages ago. He doesn't have time for arch-enemies and lets The Joker know that. That really hurts The Clown Prince.

The Joker gets his revenge by turning himself and his fellow Batman Rogues. His real goal is to get Batman to send him to the other-worldly Phantom Zone. There, he'll get an army of "uber-villains" from outside the DC Universe and escape. That all happens, of course. So Batman has to team with his faithful butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), new sidekick Robin (Michael Cera), and the new Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) to save the day. Perhaps he'll learn that being part of a family isn't so bad.

The Lego Movie's Phil Lord and Chris Miller left the director's chair to that film's animation co-director/supervisor and co-editor, Chris McKay. The story he works from credits five writers, including Seth Grahame-Smith. It's a story which proves that fun and meaningful can play in the same sandbox. There's much fun with all the in-jokes and Batman's awesome ego. There's also the realization of how unpleasant it is to be and be around a moody loner like Batman. There's much to cheer as Batman learns to reconnect with friends, family and enemies. It's that kind of movie.

Still, this film acknowledges every Batman movie and continuity from the silly to the serious. How does that timeline work? Perhaps I shouldn't think about it too much.

The Lego Batman Movie's Lego-like CGI is as fun and colorful as The Lego Movie. Special mention goes to some of the larger characters, who are sure to be massive undertakings in real life. Wayne Manor also looked great when The Joker took it over in the end. The Phantom Zone was also nice.

The Lego Batman Movie laughs with Batman and not at him. It's also more mature than some "mature" interpretations of the character. It's the best Batman movie without a bloated run-time (104 minutes). It's also an awesome toy commercial as much as its predecessor. It's a perfect warm-up for Lego's next big-screen adventure, The Lego Ninjago Movie. Let's hope Batman's next live appearance in Justice League will match his animated one.

Elle

Jethro's note: I have a smart phone! The following review is (mostly) composed on it.

Philipe Djian's novel Oh... was so dark that its film version couldn't get made in English. They tried. But now that film version, Elle, is here in its native language, French, realized by director Paul Verhouven.

The film immediately opens as Michele Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert) is violently raped in her home by a masked man. She spends the next few hours brushing the incident aside like it's a minor nuisance. She has bigger things on her mind. A slacker son, Vincent (Jonas Bloquet), whose pregnant girlfriend, Josie (Alice Isaaz), is a control freak. A cougar mother, Irene (Judith Magre). The challenges of running her video game company. Her affairs. And that her father is a notorious mass murderer and she was an unknowing accomplice.

Her father's crimes tarnished her reputation years after his trial. She doesn't feel inclined to report her incident because of it. To make matters worse, the assailant decides to stalk her. To make things twisted, Michele carries on a relationship with the man even after she finds him out. But on her terms.

David Burke's screenplay sets its audience ill at ease with its opening. They're left to wonder which is more disturbing: the assault or Michele's calm reaction. She even breaks the news of her assault to her friends during dinner. Awkward. It's the start of an unconventional mystery film. As the film goes on and we learn more about her, her reaction makes sense. "My life is messed up. What else is new?" There are bits of black comedy to relieve the tension. Even Michele's father's motive for murder amounts to an extreme temper tantrum.

Huppert is the main reason to see the film. Michele projects herself a strong successful woman. But she finds herself dominated by her past. She certainly doesn't want her present dominated by some masked man either. So she deals with the insanity in a deadpan manner. Some might call her unhinged but she's hard not to watch. Amongst her supporting cast, the best non-spoiler name was Anne Consigny as her best friend, Anna.

Anne Dudley's haunting score is great as is the sound design. Stephanie Fontaine's cinematography is perfectly eerie and editor Job ter Burg assembles it into a tense narrative. They help the suspense move nicely for 130 minutes.

Elle isn't for the feint of heart or subtitle-weary, that's for sure. Expect a lot if you see it. It's a strong mystery film with a strong lead performance and a memorable conclusion. Its unconventional nature is its greatest asset. Believe it.

Jackie

Oliver Stone famously dramatized the aftermath of JFK's assassination in ... JFK. In his English-language debut, Chilean director Pablo Larrain dramatizes said aftermath from First Lady Jackie Kennedy's perspective in Jackie.

Noah Oppenheim's screenplay goes back and forth in time with Mrs. Kennedy (Natalie Portman). Most of the movie sees her interviewed by Life's Theodore H.White (Billy Crudup) a week after the assassination. We see her guide the press through the White House. We see her arrive in Dallas and her shock and grief over her husband's death. We see her plan John Kennedy's funeral with Robert Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard). We see her consult a priest (John Hurt) over plans to rebury her short-lived children next to their father. We see a lot of things. Jackie spent a short time making sense of the world.

And I spent 99 minutes making sense of the movie. The screenplay's biggest problem is how it jumbles events around. A few scenes, like the TV White House tour, were easy to guess chronologically. Others were hard to guess. Were they before the funeral? After the funeral? Before Lee Harvey Oswald got shot or after? There weren't many captions to set the dates.

The acting was much better. Portman's Jackie believably goes from "winsome innocence" to world-weariness. Her agony and anger over the assassination is understandable. In private, all she asks herself is "why?" She still tries to put on a brave face for the public and her children.  It's the Priest that helps her makes sense of the world. Her accent was on-point with the real Jackie Kennedy, who appears in stock footage (or was it Portman in good recreations?). The best of the supporting cast are Greta Gerwig as Jackie's confidant Nancy Tuckerman and Max Casella as White House liaison and later MPAA head Jack Valenti.

The film's somberness is punctuated by Mica Levi's surreal score. Its darkest themes perfectly capture the feeling that the world has stopped. Its lightest themes are the world trying to start again. And yes, Camelot figures into the soundtrack as we hear the OBC recording of the title tune and its reprise.

Meanwhile, costume designer Madeline Fontaine perfectly recreates Jackie's famous wardrobe. Cinematographer Stephane Fontaine keeps his focus on Jackie in every scene. Production designer Jean Rabasse provides another good recreation of the 1960's. The Makeup team saves the sight of a wounded President Kennedy for the end and it's shocking.

Jackie could've used more scenes with Jackie and John together. In fact, John Kennedy is barely a presence. But for what we have, the film is a fine study of grief and acceptance. I think what got Jackie going is the knowledge that she and her husband, like Camelot, accomplished a lot in their short time. It reaffirms the power of nostalgia.

La La Land

An original musical? Those things usually exist on Broadway. But for his followup to Whiplash, writer/director Damien Chazelle has made a rousing original movie musical. This is La La Land.

Once upon a time, which is now, Sebastian and Mia live in that City of Stars, Los Angeles. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a Jazz pianist who wants to open his own Jazz club while Mia (Emma Stone) is a barista who hopes to break into acting. They bump into each other a few times. Sparks soon fly between them no matter how much they deny it in song. Then they stop denying it. They spend the rest of the movie finding their dreams and relationship tested by reality.

Justin Hurwitz's score and the songs he co-wrote with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are unforgettable. The film opens with a rousing crowd number on a crowded Los Angeles freeway as hopeful drivers greet Another Day of Sun. The number is so energetic it's hard not to smile. The pseudo one-take sequence should earn editor Tom Cross another Oscar and cinematographer Linus Sandgren his first. The instrumental score sets the right mood to the film's wonderful fantasy sequences. Speaking of those scenes, those should secure another Oscar for the vibrant production design.

It helps that the leads are great. The audience is drawn to their idealism and feels for them after every setback. Some setbacks are funny and others are not. Their first duet, A Lovely Night, is a fun way to start a relationship. Their later duet, City of Stars, is another memorable ballad. Mia's climactic number, Audition, is a powerful moment. They're so involving that the ending is sure to stir debate.

La La Land is a fine example of style-and-substance together. The film's 128 minutes tell a meaningful story of people wondering if their dreams are worth it. The audience sees how they are as long as they are persistent in doing what they love. It took five years (and Whiplash) before Chazelle got the greenlight for La La Land. The investment was worth it for everyone involved.

Lion

After a filmography of commercials and miniseries, including the Emmy-nominated Top of the Lake, director Garth Davis made his feature film debut in Lion. The film version of Saroo Brierley's memoir A Long Way Home is a genuine crowd pleaser.

In 1986, Saroo (Sunny Pawar) and his brother, Guddu (Abhisek Bharate), live in Ganesh Talai, Khandwa, India. They scavenge from trains to support their family. One night, Saroo accompanies Guddu to a train station. Guddu leaves him on a bench and doesn't return. So Saroo heads for an empty train and eventually takes a nap. He wakes up to find himself on a one-way trip to Calcutta.

Since he knows neither his hometown's actual pronunciation nor Bengali, Calcutta's language, Saroo is lost. A good stranger helps him to an orphanage. He's eventually adopted by the Brierleys, Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham), from Tasmania. Twenty years later, Saroo (Dev Patel) heads for college in Melbourne. He tells his new friends of his history and they tell him about Google Earth. He soon uses it to trace his way back home. But what about the home he's already made?

Luke Davies' screenplay unfolds over 121 minutes. Its plot is slow while its story is compelling. How so? It takes an hour or so before Saroo appears as an adult. We see his endearing relationship with Guddu and their nightmarish separation. We empathize as he finds himself lost in an unfamiliar and mostly-uncaring city. Eventually, we get to his time with the Brierleys, his strained relationship with his emotionally unstable adopted brother, Mantosh (Divian Ladwa and Keshav Jadhav), and then, his Google Earth quest.

The film has a good cast. Pawar's young Saroo is an impressionable, likable character. Patel's adult Saroo is fine playing a tormented soul. Kidman is good as is Rooney Mara as Saroo's girlfriend, Lucy. Priyanka Bose was great as Saroo's birth mother, Kamla. Meanwhile, the two actors playing Mantosh, were good, though the character's last scene wasn't dramatically satisfying.

There's another fine technical crew here. Cinematographer Greig Fraser provides excellent landscape shots and alluring city scenes. Together with editor Alexandre de Franceschi, he captures the busyness of Calcutta. The score, by Hauschka and Dustin O'Halloran, is emotive without being melodramatic. They should have pride in their accomplishments here.

Lion maybe slow, but its ending is satisfying. It ends well even if it's not a complete happy ending. But at least it ends on a strong note after a long odyssey. It surely deserves whatever praise comes its way.

Hidden Figures

One scene from Fantastic Four has the future Doctor Doom moan how the astronauts got all the glory for their space adventures and the scientists who helped them got zilch. While this isn't true (hi, Wernher von Braun), we now have a movie to acknowledge three such scientists' achievements. This is the film of Margot Lee Shetterly's nonfiction book, Hidden Figures, a compelling story of how math figured into the space race.

Anyway...

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), then Goble, is a NASA mathematician along with Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer). As they are African-American women in 1961, their achievements go unnoticed in the midst of segregation. Katherine is selected to join the Space Task Group to assist their calculations. Her calculations are miles above those of stuffy genius Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) and impress manager Al Harrison (Kevin Costner). But Katherine still feels out of place in an office of white men; especially since the nearest segregated bathroom is a half-mile away.

Meanwhile, Dorothy finds herself roadblocked when she tries for a promotion. She proves herself when she works NASA's new IBM machine when the other scientists can't. Mary fights for the right to attend night classes at a segregated school to get a engineer position. Katherine meets her future husband, Col. Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali), and helps the Space Task Group launch John Glenn into space and back.

Director Theodore Melfi adapted the screenplay with co-writer Allison Schroeder. Its best part is how it manages the story arcs for its three main characters. Their struggles are given equal importance to the plot and its historic resolution. The three spend their first scene together with car trouble and their dialogue introduces their personalities. We see through them how segregation laws were not just immoral, but impractical, especially when it involves a bathroom.

The characters are a winning ensemble. Taraji P. Henson, as Katherine, is a perfectly introverted genius. Her math skills are outstanding and her romance with Col. Johnson is endearing. Dorothy gets things done and when she's roadblocked, she does it. A segregated library won't let her borrow a FORTRAN manual? She "borrows" it. Mary has a great sense of humor and her legal struggle is compelling. Costner and Parsons are also good as is Kirsten Dunst as Dorothy's condescending supervisor. Mahershala Ali is just as likable here as he is in Moonlight.

The technical crew also deserve acknowledgement. Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch punctuate the film with strong instrumentals and catchy tunes. Editor Peter Teschner balances the comedy and drama just nicely. The production, sound and costume designs were good and the visual effects were nice. The only problem was either with Mandy Walker's cinematography or the projector; the color quality sometimes changed during scenes.

Hidden Figures is a great acknowledgement to the scientists who helped the space race. It also shows how it wouldn't have worked if the most-qualified were kept away. Hopefully, it will inspire people to acknowledge the main characters and others in their field beyond Oscar season. It's sure to show up when the nominations are announced in T-Minus 10 Days.

Loving

2017 marks fifty years since the Supreme Court decision of Loving v. Virginia. And while the movie Loving is a holdover from last year, its timing is perfect. The movie is a strong portrait of the plaintiffs behind the landmark case.

1958, Virginia. Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Jeter (Ruth Negga) are in love. Because he's white and she's black, their state's anti-miscegenation laws aren't on their side. So they go to Washington DC to get married. Somebody alerts the authorities to their married bliss and they're arrested in the middle of the night. A plea agreement keeps them out of prison and away from Virginia. Their dreams of married life will have to go elsewhere.

The Civil Rights Movement steps in. The Lovings are introduced to the ACLU, who are willing to take their case to the Supreme Court. While Richard is exhausted by the ordeal, Mildred is hopeful they'll win. They both realize that their victory will help other mixed-race couples in their situation.

Writer/Director Jeff Nichols dramatized the events told in the documentary, The Loving Story. The Academy classified this as an Adapted Screenplay, rather than Original like the WGA, for this reason. The story is good no matter the classification. It starts when Mildred tells Richard she's pregnant and Richard decides to marry her. Their chemistry tells a lot about them straight away. They're as devoted as any couple of their day. One can feel the outrage when they're arrested for the crime of marriage.

As stated before, Edgerton and Negga's performances as the Lovings are great. Their supporting cast is made of a few fine actors. Michael Shannon has a nice cameo as Life Magazine photographer Grey Villet. Bill Camp is also good as the Lovings' first lawyer, Frank Beazley, who is more sympathetic to them than other Virginia officials. Nick Kroll and Jon Bass are the best; as ACLU lawyer Bernie Cohen and law expert Phil Hirschkop, they provide some well-needed comic relief.

David Wingo's score is a perfectly melancholic soundtrack. The production design and cinematographer Adam Stone present a subdued depiction of the 58-67. Editor Julie Monroe's work is the best; her best moments come in the Lovings' arrests and a dramatic scene between Richard and his younger son, Donald. The makeup work was good too; it certainly made Edgerton an unrecognizable blonde.

Loving's biggest issue is its subdued 122 minutes. Its pace is slow and certain events are told in passing. It may not strike some as strong storytelling but I think it's fine. An overdramatic version would've made the story less meaningful. This film wants you to know the Lovings as people; like Villet's photos, it works.

Sing

I saw a record 62 movies on the big screen last year. One of them didn't get a review out before year's end. Here it is. The end of my movie year 2016 begins 2017. This is the animated musical extravaganza Sing.

Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) the koala is the proud owner of the Moon Theater. At least he would be if he wasn't flat broke. He decides to host a singing competition to save the theater. A mishap with his assistant, Mrs. Crawley (director Garth Jennings), raises the prize money from $1,000 to $100,000 and sends the typoed fliers across the city faster than you can say "oversight." A lot of animal citizens turn out but only a few get chosen.

Those few are Johnny (Taron Egerton) the son of a bank robber gorilla, Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) the housewife sow, Gunter (Nick Kroll) the large ham, Mike (Seth MacFarlane), the insufferable Rat Pack singing mouse, Meena (Tori Kelly) the shy elephant and Ash (Scarlett Johansson) the punk rocker porcupine. Now it's time to rehearse for the big show. The acts' personal problems threaten to literally bring down the house. Buster needs the show to work or he'll have to find a new line of work.

The story is basically Babes in Arms meets American Idol/The Voice/Insert Something Here with funny animals. What makes it work is its ensemble. The film successfully juggles the stories of its animal cast. We get to know them all as a likable bunch of characters. Mike, though, stretches his likability thin, but he has his moments. Even the also-rans get a chance to pop up throughout the rest of the story.  Our main cast's stories resolve wonderfully during the finale. 

The film crams even more pop standards (roughly 60!) than Trolls. The song selections are fun even if you don't recognize them. They're sung greatly especially during emotional moments. A new song, Faith, begins the ending credits. An instrumental score by Joby Talbot also sets things going. The music sounds great thanks to the sound design.

The film's unnamed city is a cool animal metropolis. It's not as exotic as Zootopia, which the film may remind viewers of, but it's an appealing city nonetheless. Its citizens are a nice, eclectic bunch of species. The Moon Theater looks pretty good for a rundown institution. Overall, it looks like a nice place to live.

Sing is an awesome ensemble animated movie. It has great acting, visuals, music and sound. Its only real flaw is that it's a bit overlong at 110 minutes. But it's an earnest, feel-good film. It's definitely worth seeing at any price during the holidays and beyond.

Passengers

Director Morten Tyldum previously dramatized the story of Alan Turing, the father of the computer in The Imitation Game. He goes far from Oscar-bait into Science Fiction for Passengers. Its plot twists have shocked some viewers but not me. I thought the voyage was OK.

Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is one of 5000 colonists aboard the starship Avalon. The whole personnel is asleep in cryotubes for a 120-year voyage to the planet Homestead II. But a meteor shower jolts Jim awake 30 years in. Jim can't go back to cryobed because the ship's makers are idiots who can't foresee the possibility of failure. So Jim's all alone except for the android bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen) and other droids. Plus side is, he can do anything he wants.

But Jim's bored without other conscious humans. He decides that journalist Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) will be his companion and wakes her. He knows that he can't put her back to cryo either. He tells her that her cryotube screwed up too. And a friendship is born. Little do they know that the Avalon is on the verge of doom. They'll have to find a way to stop it.

Jim and Aurora's relationship is founded on lies and deceit. But the film does admit that Jim is in the wrong ... then sweeps that aside. Halfway through, our couple is joined by another premature awakened guy, Gus Mancuso (Laurence Fishburne). He tells Aurora that it's natural for a drowning man (i.e. Jim) to try to take someone with him. That's not love. Their relationship would've worked if Aurora was indeed jolted awake. It would've also jolted the plot awake too.

What about the characters we have? Jim starts off as a likable, funny guy. He is sympathetic when his isolation gets to him and tests that sympathy when he wakes Aurora. Aurora's fury once she realizes the deception is perfectly understandable. Michael Sheen's Arthur provides great comic relief. Gus Mancuso is a cool character taken too soon. Andy Garcia is too big a name for his wordless cameo as the Avalon's captain in the very last scene.

The visual effects team is among the ten shortlisted for Oscar consideration. They visualize a pretty cool ship designed by Guy Hendrix Dyas. The Avalon is a nice place for a cruise if you can afford it. A gravity loss which nearly drowns Aurora in a floating pool is a visual highlight. Jim and Aurora's space walks were pretty awesome too. Thomas Newman sets these visuals to another memorable score.

Passengers' love story just needed a few rewrites to be romantic. It does work as a satire of suicidally overconfident shipmakers. It would've been better if it was all about that. The film we have is a fine matinee with cool visuals. I don't know what else to recommend about it.

Fences

Denzel Washington made his directorial debut with Antwone Fisher and his followup with The Great Debaters. His latest directorial effort is the long-awaited big screen version of August Wilson's career-defining play Fences. Washington directs himself and most of his co-stars from the 2010 Broadway revival for a strong screen rendition.

Troy Maxson (Washington) was a star of the Negro Leagues in the days before Jackie Robinson. Now he's a garbageman in Pittsburgh. He spends his days with his pal, Bono (Stephen Mckinley Henderson), his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and his son, Cory (Jovan Adepo). His brother, Gabe (Mykelti Williamson), is a mentally-impaired wanderer and his other son, Lyons (Russell Hornsby), stops by asking for cash. Troy's greatest accomplishment before baseball was the time he fought off (literally, he says) Death. He now barely makes enough to support his family.

Troy finds solace with a mistress, Alberta, who we never get to see. We do see him construct a fence for his house, though. We also see his relationships with his family and friends tried and tested by his bitterness. How will anybody get into Troy's life now?

Wilson, who died in 2005, wrote the screenplay for the film version. One can recognize its theatrical origins with its heavy dialogue alone. A lot of major events are depicted off-screen and silent montages tell a few more. A huge chunk of the story is told around the Maxson house. The theatrical limitations may confine some viewers but not me. Here's why:

The cast. Washington, as Maxson, is a sympathetic jerk. He does mean things to Cory and Rose but he still attempts to be a family man. But it's still selfish when he voices favor for his mistress and their child in front of his wife. Davis, as Rose, is a sympathetic housewife who lets loose with her frustrations in the end. Adepo, as Cory, is a great foil for Washington and gets to have two powerful confrontations with him. Williamson, as Gabe, is likable, funny and tragic all at once.

Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen and Production Designer David Gropman paint a nice picture of 1950's Pittsburgh. Editor Hughes Winborne pieces the monologues and confrontations with strong tension. These aspects work their best in Troy's last scene; it would've been an excellent ending for him if the real finale wasn't seven years later. The finale works best with Marcelo Zarvos's great score; it ends the film on such a powerful image. 

This is a film that does right by its source. Fences is a strong transplant of a legendary play. Its themes of race and familial loyalty smash down any physical or metaphorical fence. It definitely deserves all the praise coming to it.

Rogue One

Or, Star Wars Episode 3.5: Anyway that is Green.

Disney isn't done making money from Star Wars on the big screen. Star Wars Episode VIII will arrive in this galaxy this time next year. So in the meantime, it goes back, "a long time ago, in that galaxy far, far away" for a prequel, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It's a prequel destined to be remembered for the right reasons.

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) was a farm girl until the Galactic Empire came knocking. The evil Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) killed her mother, Lyra, and seized her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen). She was found and raised by extremist Rebel Saw Gerrera (Forest Whittaker). Years later, Jyn is a career criminal in Imperial Custody. The Rebel Alliance bails her out in the hopes she can help them find her father, the chief scientist of the Death Star. An Imperial deserter, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), exposed the base's existence.

Jyn finds herself paired up with Rebel officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his reprogrammed Imperial Droid, K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). They later meet Rook, blind monk Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and his soldier friend Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). The Rebel Alliance plans to disrupt the Death Star by killing Galen. Our heroes discover that Galen hid an explosive surprise in the Death Star for the Rebels to exploit. They just need to tell them somehow; perhaps they can steal the plans for the station.

Director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) keeps it going for a nicely paced 133 minutes. His four writers, including Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz, populate the story with memorable new characters. Jyn is as capable a lead as Rey from The Force Awakens. K-2SO provides great, dry comic relief. Chirrut gets the best action scenes and some of the best lines. Krennic is a good, slimy villain. The most high-profile returning character is Darth Vader, voiced again by James Earl Jones, who gets two scenes to show off brutal villainy. The tragic ending is alleviated by the fact we know how it all goes down. It all leads just inches away from A New Hope.

The crew is most impressive once again. K-2SO and a few other creatures are visualized with great motion capture work. Guy Henry pulls off a pretty good digitally-assisted impersonation of the late Peter Cushing to play Grand Moff Tarkin. The set makers an exceptional job recreating sets from A New Hope for the film. The Death Star firing scenes recreate the original film's so flawlessly it looked like stock footage. The action looked and sounded great. Michael Giacchino provides a new great score mixed with John Williams' classic themes.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a strong side story to the Star Wars universe. It's a great space opera and war movie. It's a great way to pass the time before Episode VIII finally appears. It's a prequel that fits pretty good with its established lore. It's a lot of things. So what is it not? A disappointment. 

Manchester by the Sea

Playwright Kenneth Lonergan transitioned to writer/director with 2000's Oscar-nominated You Can Count On Me. His second feature, Margaret, was an epic post-production trainwreck. His third film, Manchester by the Sea, was smooth-sailing; the end result is a good family dramedy.

Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a janitor in Quincy, Massachusetts. He's good at his job but not good with people. He was married to Randi (Michelle Williams) but not anymore. His solitary life is disrupted when his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler), has a fatal heart attack. Lee finds himself the legal guardian of his nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). This requires him to move back to his hometown of Manchester-by-the-Sea to tend to family matters. While Lee doesn't consider himself a good legal guardian, he soon softens and confronts a tragedy in his life.

And that's pretty much the whole movie. In 137 minutes.

It's largely character-driven rather than plot-driven. Lee's misery is the antagonist; his current relationships are poor and starting new ones is agonizing. He just wants to return to his old life. He even bookends the film in bar-fights. Flashbacks explain his misery, though they're so abrupt you might not know they're flashbacks.

But this film has a surprising sense of humor. Much of it comes from Patrick, a sarcastic teen more open than Lee. He's mostly unfazed by his father's death until a scene involving frozen chicken. Jill (Heather Burns), the mother of one of Patrick's girlfriends, is welcome comic relief. Lee's personal interactions in the opening was funny.

Affleck as Lee was a compelling character. He's still a hard worker despite his misery. He'll still sort out Joe's matters even if he wants some one else to. One can tell a lot about him by his miserable face. We still sympathize with him when his major tragedy is revealed.

Meanwhile, Randi mostly appears in flashbacks save for one memorable scene with Lee at the end. The supporting cast also features Matthew Broderick as Patrick's strict stepfather. There's also an amusing cameo by Lonergan himself as a pedestrian who questions Lee's parenting.

Manchester by the Sea's leisurely stroll across New England may bore some. But its characters make the runtime and sparse plot more enjoyable. The dramedy is the best part as it says there is laughter after grief. And I need some laughter after the stress in my life these past few weeks.