Film: Jungle Cruise

 

GENRE: Action, Adventure
RATING: PG-13 for action violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 7 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Dwayne Johnson (Jumanji 2; Moana, Hobbes & Shaw)
Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns, Edge of Tomorrow, Quiet Place)
DIRECTOR: Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown; Orphan; Non-Stop)
WRITERS: Michael Green (Logan; Blade Runner 2049)
Glenn Ficarra & John Requa (Bad Santa; Cats and Dogs)
PLOT: A female explorer (in pants!) want to find a supernatural treasure in the Amazon with the help of a jungle cruise captain.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: My expectations were pretty low.

STORY STUFF: That was a fun romp. This was more like the Pirates of the Caribbean than Haunted Mansion. The movie character tropes borrow heavily from Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy and Humphrey Bogart’s The African Queen.  Luckily, I enjoyed The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean and therefore enjoyed seeing this film play out. Some parts are predictable but that’s alright. Script-wise, I happened to love the plethora of puns. If I recall, the ride at Disneyland also included punny dialogue from the tour guides.  

ACTING STUFF: Jesse Plemmons (Breaking Bad, FNL) seems to be pigeon-holed into evil characters now. It also seems that he took the Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) school of acting. You can tell he is having a lot of fun. Johnson and Blunt work pretty well together. I didn’t buy any romantic chemistry but they were still a good on-screen duo. Whitehall as the fussy brother has some fun lines. Paul Giamatti is unnecessary in this film.    

ARTISTIC STUFF: The action and visual effects were very reminiscent of the Pirates franchise. I was cool with that. The film opens and then brings back the opening music from Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”. An odd choice for the time period and kind of took me out of the film at parts. I did enjoy the costuming, especially the concentration on Blunt’s pants and Whitehall’s numerous costume changes.  

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like family fun adventure and can stand puns
UPCOMING REVIEW: Suicide Squad

Film: Black Widow

 

GENRE: Action
RATING: PG-13 for violence and some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 13 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Scarlet Johansson (Avengers: End Game; Jojo Rabbit)
Florence Pugh (Little Women), David Harbour (Stranger Things)
DIRECTOR: Cate Shortland (Somersault, SMILF)
WRITER: Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok; Godzilla v Kong; Agent Carter)
PLOT: Black Widow tries to find the Red Room while on the run.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Just happy to be back in a movie theatre.

STORY STUFF: The story was a lot better than I thought it would be. It moves at a pretty good clip There are some fun action pieces that stretch believability but that’s par for the course for Marvel. I liked the family dynamic and the moments of humour. Interesting end-credit sequence, especially as this was supposed to be released before Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

ACTING STUFF: Pugh steals the show as younger sister Yelena. She plays the action, the drama and the humour incredibly well. There’s a meta comment she introduces that is simply hysterical. I was surprised how much I enjoyed Harbour. He didn’t come off too well in the trailers in my opinion. Johannson plays it straight but was nothing to write home about. Really don’t like Ray Winstone (Indy 4: Crystal Skull) as an actor so I didn’t find the villain compelling. I wish there was more backstory for Mason (O-T Fagbenle) as he just keeps showing up and helping.    

ARTISTIC STUFF: Great action sequences. Expected more from the Red Room though.  

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like Marvel movies and want to see it on a big screen.
UPCOMING REVIEW: The Comeback Trail

Film: Fatherhood

GENRE: Comedy-Drama
RATING: PG-13 for language and suggestive material
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 49 minutes
PLATFORM: Netflix
STARRING: Kevin Hart (Jumangi 2, Central Intelligence, Night School)
Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage, 12 Years a Slave), Anthony Carrigan (Barry)
DIRECTOR: Paul Weitz (About a Boy, In Good Company, American Pie)
WRITERS: Weitz (About a Boy) & Dana Stevens (City of Angels)
PLOT: A father brings up his girl as a single dad when his wife dies right after childbirth.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m actually lukewarm when it comes to Kevin Hart.

STORY STUFF: There are a number of sugary-sweet moments in this film like a lot of Weitz’ work. The cliché Three Men and a Baby moments seem lazy though as is the last minute ‘epiphany’. The whole thing was pretty predictable but still watchable. I’m glad they do a time jump from baby to kindergarten so Hart has someone to talk to instead of himself.

ACTING STUFF: Hart plays some good dramatic moments but I wanted more comedy from him. He seemed to restrain himself so that he could be taken seriously. Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) gets some fun lines. It’s weird seeing Carrigan in a non-Barry role but he still plays it dumb. Woodard is also pretty cliché as the overbearing and untrusting mother-in-law. I liked DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It) as the love interest.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: Nothing much to say here. Some fun montages?

VERDICT: Two stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You’re a single father I guess?
UPCOMING REVIEW: Black Widow