Film: Finding Dory

GENRE: Animated, Adventure

RATING: PG for mild thematic elements
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 37 minutes

STARRING: Ellen DeGeneres (Finding Nemo, Ellen)

Albert Brooks (Concussion, Drive), Ed O’Neill (Modern Family)

DIRECTORS: Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo)

Angus MacLane (newcomer)

WRITERS: Stanton (Toy Story 3, Wall-E), Victoria Strouse (newcomer)

PLOT: Dory, hampered with short-term memory loss, tries to find her parents and home with the help of Marlin & Nemo.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: I loved Finding Nemo

STORY STUFF: I was worried that this sequel would not live up to the original (like Cars 2) but this film really does compliment Nemo. Pixar is so good at telling stories. This film brings you on an emotional and adventurous journey. I was captivated the whole time.  

ACTING STUFF: Of course, DeGeneres kills it as Dory. But I also loved hearing Sloane Murray as Young Dory. Her voice was so cute. Also enjoyed hearing the voice of Ty Burrell (Modern Family) as Bailey the Beluga who was wonderfully neurotic. The sea lions were also fun.

ARTISTIC STUFF: The animation is stunning like usual. Loved the giant aquarium and the camouflage antics of Hank the Septapus. I also thoroughly enjoyed the opening Pixar short, Piper. The young bird was adorable and the animation of the sand was incredible.  Also, stick around until the end of the credits to revisit some old friends.

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoy Pixar films and have a heart

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Central Intelligence

Film: The Jungle Book

GENRE: Adventure

RATING: PG for scary action and peril
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 46 minutes

STARRING: Neel Sethi (newcomer), Bill Murray (Groundhog Day),

Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List), Idris Elba (Thor, Luther)

DIRECTOR: Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Elf, Cowboys & Aliens)

WRITER: Justin Marks (newcomer, upcoming Top Gun 2)

PLOT: After being threatened by a tiger, a boy learns about himself with help of a panther and bear. The animals talk by the way.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Was not a fan of the animated Disney flick.

STORY STUFF: Found the story to be quite engaging and action-packed. I thought it would have been nice if there was a bit more humour though. Lots of other animals could have brought more fun to this film.

ACTING STUFF: Newcomer Sethi is a treat to watch. When you consider he’s acting alongside all CG characters and running around a green screen all day, his acting is even more impressive. Great voice casting too. Loved Murray and Kingsley in their gentle roles. Also loved Elba and Johansson with their menacing voice. And Christopher Walken is classic Christopher Walken.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Glad I saw it on the big screen, the visuals are incredibly impressive. Animals and scenery are beautifully done. Why did Favreau have to ruin it with the lame book closing and cheesy Disney closing credits?

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like the story or just enjoy seeing jungle life in general

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Finding Dory

Film: Now You See Me 2

GENRE: Action

RATING: PG-13 for some violence & language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 9 minutes

STARRING: Jesse Eisenberg (Social Network, Batman vs Superman)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight, Avengers); Woody Harrelson (Hunger Games)

DIRECTOR: Jon M Chu (Step Up 2, Jem, GI Joe: Retaliation)

WRITER: Ed Solomon (Charlie’s Angels, Men in Black, Bill & Ted)

PLOT: The Four Horsemen are forced to steal a tech thingy.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: I enjoyed the first film and like seeing magic tricks.

STORY STUFF: The story was interesting enough. However, I thought there were too many reveals of motives to the point where I wasn’t really surprised. The plot could have used a little more trimming. Also, I find it hard to believe that the general public would care that much about magicians. Do they even know these corporate people they are exposing?

ACTING STUFF: Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls) was a vast improvement over Isla Fisher from the last one. Caplan added an extra dose of sarcasm and fun. I did not enjoy Harrelson playing dual roles. The bad twin was pretty lame. I also enjoyed Dave Franco (Neighbors) more this time around.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: I love seeing all the magic tricks and when they reveal how they accomplish some of them. I like that many of the tricks are not just CGI stuff.   

VERDICT: Three and half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like magic and enjoyed the first one.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Finding Dory

Film: Popstar - Never Stop Never Stopping

GENRE: Comedy

RATING: R for graphic nudity and language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 27 minutes

STARRING: Andy Samberg (SNL, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Hot Rod)

Jorma Taccone (Hot Rod, SNL); Tim Meadows (SNL, Mean Girls)

DIRECTORS: Akiva Schaffer (The Watch) & Taccone (MacGruber)

WRITERS: Schaffer, Taccone & Samberg (Hot Rod)

PLOT: A mockumentary of a boy band solo artist who falls on tough times when his second album is a failure.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I love the Lonely Island (Schaffer, Taccone & Samberg) SNL digital shorts and albums.

STORY STUFF: Being a fan of The Lonely Island, I found myself laughing a lot during this film. The story is basically a pop update of Spinal Tap with fun mockumentary interviews and short segments. It’s a predictable storyline but highly entertaining in a frat boy sort of way.

ACTING STUFF: Lots of funny performances. Samberg does a great job as the self-centered Connor 4 Real. This film is jam packed full of celebrities cameos. They get some fun music insiders to talk about the ups and downs of Connor and his crew. I absolutely loved the skewering of TMZ with Will Arnett as the water bottle chugging boss. So funny.

ARTISTIC STUFF: There are some outrageous sets and costumes but the real highlight are the songs. Songs about being humble, equal rights and the Mona Lisa have some wonderfully funny lyrics. I wish there were a few more song performances/videos in the movie.  

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoy SNL digital shorts from a few years ago

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Now You See Me 2

Film: X-Men - Apocalypse

GENRE: Action, Sci-Fi

RATING: PG-13 for violence and some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 24 minutes

STARRING: James McAvoy (Atonement, Wanted, Gnomeo & Juliet)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs); Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games)

DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, X-Men, X-Men 2)

WRITER: Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes, Fantastic Four, Jumper)

PLOT: The first mutant resurfaces and wishes to ‘cleanse’ the earth. The X-Men must find a way to stop him.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m pretty much watching X-Men movies now because I already invested time in previous installments.

STORY STUFF: I wasn’t a huge fan of the story. There were some cool elements here and there but I didn’t care too much for the Apocalypse character. Also Oscar Isaac is a little too short to play the big bad here. He didn’t seem all that intimidating. I also got a kick out of a plan to turn off generators that fizzles because the X-Men get distracted by someone, way to forget your mission you ADD kids.

ACTING STUFF: Good dramatic acting by everyone but again it’s Evan Peters as Quicksilver that steals the show. His attitude and reactions are pitch perfect. Unfortunately, some of Sophie Turner’s work as Jean Grey reminded me of Sansa in Game of Thrones.

ARTISTIC STUFF: The pre-credit opening is beautifully shot. I was mesmerized by the cinematography and effects used in that sequence. The rest of the film is also well shot.

VERDICT: Three stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You’ve seen the other X-Men movies
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Popstar – Never Stop Never Stopping