Film: Barbie

 

GENRE: Comedy Fantasy
RATING: PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 54 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Margot Robbie (The Suicide Squad, Wolf of Wall Street)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land, Nice Guys); America Ferrara (Superstore)
DIRECTOR: Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women)
WRITERS: Noah Baumbach (Squid and the Whale, Marriage Story);
Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Frances Ha, Little Women)
PLOT: Barbie questions her existence and finds herself in the real world.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: Went more for Robbie and the hype.

STORY STUFF: The trailer gives you most of the first half of the story. The second half that includes a Ken take-over is pretty funny. The existential crisis goes on too long though. The ending heart-to-heart in a blank void got me rolling me eyes and checking my watch. There are plenty of fun moments in the film but the storyline is not captivating.

ACTING STUFF: Robbie plays Barbie perfectly. She brings the look, the emotion, the comedy and more. Gosling is fantastic as Ken. His insecurity and forced bravado is hysterical at times. Ferrara is well cast and makes an amazing speech. I got tired of Kate McKinnon (SNL) pretty quickly and Will Ferrell (Elf) is over-the-top and really not needed to add silliness to the proceedings. Michael Cera (Superbad) is a breath of fresh air as the only non-Ken in Barbieland. Most of the Barbies and Kens also give fun performances in supporting roles.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I love the plastic-ness of the set, especially the waves. As with the dolls, the costumes are important and add significantly to the film. I was expecting some better music for some reason. There is a late nineties song that is used beautifully though. I won’t spoil it but it made me laugh a bunch.

VERDICT: Three stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like Barbie or want to see pretty plastic people.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  A Haunting in Venice?

Film: Oppenheimer

 

GENRE: Drama Biopic
RATING: R for nudity and language
RUNTIME: 3 hours and 00 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre (preferably IMAX)
STARRING: Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Inception)
Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Chaplin); Matt Damon (Air, The Martian)
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight trilogy, Tenet, Inception)
WRITER: Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk)
PLOT: The story of the American scientist and his involvement in the development of the atomic bomb and its aftermath.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a while.

STORY STUFF: What a captivating story. I’ll admit that I didn’t know much about the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer. I had watched the TV series Manhattan about the project but didn’t remember much about the historical facts. I loved the themes of putting theory into action and should we have this much power. I find the story lingers on long after the credits roll. I found the three hours flying by; and if you think the Trinity test is the conclusion of the story, you are in for a lot more. The dialogue is crisp and the pacing is a mixture of quiet contemplation and ticking intensity. Apparently, the book this film is based on is incredibly dense, but Nolan has done an impeccable job trimming it down into this amazing film.

ACTING STUFF: There should be a bunch of Oscar nominations coming out of this film. Murphy is mesmerizing as Oppenheimer – he perfectly captures the deep thinking and impressive ego; he should be getting a best actor nod. Downey Jr should get a supporting actor nomination for his work on this film – he is such a great actor. Matt Damon, Florence Pugh and Jason Clarke command the screen. Emily Blunt starts off slow but ends strong. David Krumholtz is a little chunky but give a great performance. And even Josh Hartnett brings in stellar work. There are number of great one-scene wonders that I won’t spoil for you. Nolan has brought together an amazing ensemble.

ARTISTIC STUFF: The first thing I noticed was the amazing editing of Jennifer Lame (Tenet, Black Panther 2) with these beautiful shots of images Oppenheimer has in his head. The cinematography is incredible with the extra touch of black and white film representing Strauss’ narrative as opposed to the colourful Oppenheimer one. The music and sound finally work in a way that makes sense and doesn’t overpower the dialogue unlike the soundscape of Tenet. The practical effects (including the Trinity explosion) are vivid and puts recent Marvel CGI to shame. There is a scene in a gymnasium that incorporates all these elements and it is simply jaw dropping and breath-taking. Expect a number of Oscar nominations for these parts as well. It’s a masterpiece.

VERDICT: Five stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like a biopic with big questions and relevant fears
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Barbie

Film: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One

 

GENRE: Action Adventure
RATING: PG-13 for violence and some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 43 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher)
Hayley Atwell (Captain America, Agent Carter); Esai Morales (Ozark)
DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie (MI5, MI6, Jack Reacher)
WRITERS: Erik Jendresen (Bank of Brothers, Ithaca)
McQuarrie (Maverick, Usual Suspects, Edge of Tomorrow, Valkyrie)
PLOT: Ethan Hunt and his team look for a key to destroy dangerous foe   

FULL DISCLOSURE: This is one of my favourite franchises.

STORY STUFF: This another non-stop thrill ride. Ethan Hunt is tasked with saving the world once again. This time the evil villain is AI. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a bunch of movies dealing with the power given to AI. Anyway, the plot has some interesting twists and turns. I did find some of the exposition in the beginning to be a little much. Bringing back Kittridge is nostalgic but raises my eyebrow. I liked the added hunting of Hunt by Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) and Greg Tarzan Davis (Maverick). Atwell is a great addition but I found her running away pretty repetitive and bothersome at times. Even though the film is long, the fun action sequences will make the time fly by.

ACTING STUFF: Cruise, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are a fantastic team; their comradery adds a great level of fun to the proceedings. Atwell is wonderful as the pickpocket Grace who is in way over her head. She works very well with Cruise. Like I said before, I liked Whigham and Davis as the agents sent to bring Hunt in. The rest of the cast bring great intensity to their roles. Morales plays a good bad guy but I’ll save that judgement for the conclusion of Part Two.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Of course, the reason to watch this film is the amazing stunts. Everyone has seen the big motorcycle cliff dive but there is a lot more to marvel at. We’ve seen Ethan drive fast in close quarters before but this film’s Italian car chase adds some fun elements to make the pursuit a lot trickier and fun. There is a train sequence at the end that is heart-pounding and amazingly done. The kitchen car was my favourite. This is definitely a film to watch on the big screen.

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like awesome action and enjoy the series
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Oppenheimer

Film: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

 

GENRE: Action Adventure
RATING: PG-13 for violence, language and smoking
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 34 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Bladerunner, Presumed Innocent)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag); Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale)
DIRECTOR: James Mangold (Logan, Ford v Ferrari, Knight and Day)
WRITERS: Mangold (Walk the Line), David Koepp (Indy 4, The Mummy),
Jez Butterworth (Spectre), John Henry Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow)
PLOT: Indiana Jones and his goddaughter try to find an artifact that can change the course of history.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: I love Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

STORY STUFF: There are a bunch of hits and misses when it comes to the story. The name of the artifact is lame but I did like the connection to Archimedes (very Alias-like). The pacing of the film is pretty good with some great action sequences throughout. I wish there was more problem-solving moments like in Crusade and even Crystal Skull. I liked the goddaughter stuff even though it might not be for everyone. Indiana Jones films always requires a high level of suspension of disbelief; this one packs a doozy. I was annoyed by some flagrant continuity issues. One of the day shift is practically Ed Wood worthy. There’s also something broken that is magically repaired. I like a good chase scene and there’s a good one in Tangiers but how these vehicles catch up to each other is downright ludicrous. But I’m still along for the adventure.    

ACTING STUFF: Harrison Ford is legendary and continues to shine as Indiana Jones. I enjoyed the snarkiness of Waller-Bridge. Mikkelsen always has a commanding presence as the bad guy. His henchmen are terrible though: one is just trigger-happy and the other is so cartoonishly big, he almost looks CGI. Fun to see John Rhys-Davies as Sallah again but he is looking mighty old. Enjoyed Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas lending a hand as well.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Mangold makes a mistake right off the bat. The Paramount logo needs to be incorporated into the first shot; it’s tradition. I was happy that the CGI wasn’t as noticeable in this film like Crystal Skull (still annoyed with that monkey scene). I’m very okay with de-aging Ford for a chunk as it’s necessary. The distance running on the train was a bit much but most of the effects looked rugged and practical. I wish Mikklesen’s character had a cool scar on his face or something (I thought they were setting that up in the beginning but then nothing.) The location stuff was great including an underwater sequence. The music by John Williams continues to inspire, so much so that the theatre lights wouldn’t turn on until the main theme was done as the end of the film.     

VERDICT: Three and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like Indiana Jones and want some fun despite mistakes.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One