Friday, July 26, 2019

Movie Review: “The Farewell”


The Farewell

**** out of 5
100 minutes
Rated PG for thematic material, brief language and some smoking
A24

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

When you skip the Sundance Film Festival you get stuck playing catch up the rest of the year. Thankfully, some of the best films wind up finding distribution and make their way to theaters. And writer/director Lulu Wang’s family dramedy, The Farewell, is about as Sundance-y as they come. Full of laughs and heart — along with a very specific worldview — her amazing cast help keep the film moving along, even if it beats to an all too familiar Sundance pace. It also provides a chance for Awkwafina to finally prove she can be more than just a snarky sidekick.

Billi (Awkwafina) loves her grandma Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhou) very much. They spend lots of time talking on the phone while Nai Nai deals with her exhausting husband in China and Billi wanders the streets of New York. What Billi doesn’t know — and neither does Nai Nai — is that Nai Nai has terminal lung cancer. Now, the family plans a trip to China to visit Nai Nai before she’s gone, using the excuse of a wedding so they can all spend some time before their final goodbyes.

It’s hilarious watching Wang’s amazing cast walk extra lightly on eggshells with Billi being the one person they worry will ruin the whole thing. Nai Nai just shouldn’t be bothered with something that will upset her. The entire premise may seem absurd on the surface, but it’s driven home a few times that this is just how things are done in the East. Awkwafina walks a fine line providing plenty of laughs, but Wang also knows when to reel her in. There’s a big moment where Billi discusses the loss of her grandfather that particularly hits hard considering a recent personal loss.

The Farewell sails along with the help of one of the year’s best ensembles by offering plenty of insight into just how far a family is willing to go to keep a secret. And at least they go so far as to acknowledge that something like this would be illegal here in the U.S. There are just as many touching moments as there are laughs — it’s never too silly or too overdramatic. The Farewell is perfect counterprogramming to the summer onslaught offering adults something more than ’splosions and CGI. It’s also nice to see something that feels 100% authentic (and coincidentally 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) — most of the film is subtitled. So for those looking for something a little more real this summer, this is the perfect option.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Movie Review: “The Lion King”


The Lion King

*** out of 5
118 minutes
Rated PG for sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements
Walt Disney Pictures

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

When it comes to Disney and their live action remakes, you’d think The (don’t call it live action) Lion King would reign supreme. Sadly, it’s almost as middling as the rest of them have been. While never succumbing to the same drivel as Maleficent or Dumbo, it still manages to fall flat in the long run. Not even the power of director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Jungle Book) can keep over-familiarity defeat the power of nostalgia. It doesn’t help that the first (almost) hour is more or less shot-for-shot and it’s not until Timon and Pumbaa (voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen) finally show up that the film finds its own flavor.

If any remake doesn’t need a synopsis, it’s The Lion King, but here we go. Young Simba (voiced by JD McCrary) leaves his pack behind after the death of his father, King Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones again) at the hands of Mufasa’s brother, Scar (voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor). The circle of life comes around when Nala (voiced by BeyoncĂ©) discovers Simba (voiced as an adult by Donald Glover) living hakuna matata in paradise with Timon and Pumbaa. But Simba must now come to terms with his destiny and return to the pride lands to save everyone from the tyranny of Scar’s dictatorship.

I suppose the biggest hurdle Favreau had to encounter is that The Lion King was an original property to begin with. When it came to The Jungle Book, he had the opportunity to pull from both the original animated classic and Rudyard Kipling’s extended bibliography. So while he may have a whole new set of tools to embrace technologically, that’s about all the effort that went into adapting this photorealistic reenactment. The Lion King’s heart just doesn’t seem to be in it anymore, but it’s not for lack of trying.

The voice cast do what they can with the material, but considering how much of Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay is verbatim, he barely deserves a screenwriting credit — except for the amount of riffing Eichner and Rogen did. Which brings us to the best part of the movie: them. Can we please just have a new “live action” Timon and Pumbaa movie, please? Not necessarily a remake of The Lion King 1 ½, but definitely a film of their own. The two are hilarious together and completely reinvigorate the characters, making them all their own, while staying true to the hilarious spirit of Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella.

Unfortunately, the story plays beat-for-beat of the original. However, Favreau has come up with some spectacular imagery. With not one single shot of actual live action footage, it’s quite a technological achievement. But, that always comes with a detriment. The laughs may be in tow, but as I said, the heart is severely lacking. Try as he might, Favreau just can’t get the same emotion as Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff did with their hand-drawn animation. Thankfully, Elton John and Tim Rice’s classic songs remain intact, even if Ejiofor simply sing speaks his way through the now underwhelming “Be Prepared” — and Rogen can barely carry a tune, but doesn’t necessarily need to and it just makes his performance funnier.

While visually stunning, I suppose it is nice to have a new option when you’re in the mood for The Lion King. But when The Lion King can’t even be as much fun as Aladdin, there’s something rotten in the state of Disney. There’s also quite a few moments that come off rather dopey in “live action,” mainly Mufasa falling to his death. When it’s shown again later in the film it actually becomes unintentionally hilarious. For interested parties, sit back and wait for Timon and Pumbaa to come to the rescue. As for the rest of The Lion King, this is even more of a case of been-there-seen-that than before. It may not be the worst of the current remakes, but it should have been a crowning achievement and head of the pack.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

Movie Review: “Stuber”


Stuber

*** out of 5
93 minutes
Rated R for violence and language throughout, some sexual references and brief graphic nudity
20th Century Fox

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

It’s always interesting when studios won’t screen a film for press. While Stuber has been screened multiple times, the alligator creature feature Crawl is getting a cold open. It speaks for itself to say that one of them is being far better received than the other. While both feature the types of mindless thrills we’ve come to expect from summer releases, Crawl has a handful of reviews (14), and stands at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile Stuber is being saddled with a middling 48%.

Stuber may be better than its online score, but it’s never as hilarious as it should be. At least stars Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista — with the help of ever-reliable indie favorite director Michael Dowse (What If, Goon, It’s All Gone Pete Tong, Fubar) — get way more mileage out of Tripper Clancy’s screenwriting debut than you’d think. It may not be big, but it’s definitely dumb, and thankfully, fun.

Vic Manning (Bautista) is hot on the heels of drug peddling Oka Tedjo (The Raid’s Iko Uwais) with his partner, Sara Morris (Karen Gillan), in tow. After a hotel brawl winds up with Sara getting shot, six months later Vic is still trying to catch Oka if it’s the last thing he does. And just wouldn’t you know it, Vic winds up catching a hot lead that could lead him straight to Oka.

Unfortunately, it’s all going down the same day he gets Lasik and can’t see. Now, Vic calls upon poor Uber drive Stu (Nanjiani) to get him where he needs to be by shouting neighborhoods at him, rather than actual addresses. Together, the two must pair up to bring down the nefarious heroine dealer to keep the street’s kids, and Vic’s daughter safe. All the while Stu — nicknamed “Stuber” by his bullying boss Richie (Jimmy Tatro) — learning his own life lessons about love, and self esteem, along the way.

If there’s one thing that really helps Stuber, it’s a scant runtime. Never wearing out its welcome, the film roars along at a near breakneck speed, earning plenty of laughs — while squeezing in a tiny bit of heart — among some hit-and-miss action sequences. Surprisingly, the offbeat fisticuffs is where the action works best. There’s a one-on-one between Vic and Stu at Stu’s sporting goods workplace that is hysterical, and another shootout set in an animal clinic. Even a car chase between Oka and Stu’s electric Nissan Leaf features the film’s biggest laugh involving Jaws and a mini propane tank.

Unfortunately, it’s when the action needs to count that it completely falls flat. Full of disorienting choreography, Michael Bay-styled quick cut editing, and some horrendous shaky cam, you never know what’s actually happening any time Vic and Oka go head to head. And when you’ve got a down and dirty fight between Drax and Rama, Dowse should be pulling out the stops. But the best filmed fight sequence is the one at Stu’s work, causing the stakes to never feel real.

For interested parties, you’ll come for the laughs, and that’s exactly where the film succeeds the most. Nanjiani is as dryly facetious as ever and Bautista gets some fantastic off the cuff reactions to the shenanigans he gets the two of them into. So while the action may not live up to the best, at least the laughs fly fast and furious. Stuber never tries to raise the bar, but at least keeps sailing along to its own beat. Just know going in that Stuber is comedy first and it’ll make for a fun way to get out of the heat and turn your brain off without feeling bad about it.

Monday, July 1, 2019

Movie Review: “Spider-Man: Far From Home”


Spider-Man: Far From Home

***** out of 5
129 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments
Columbia Pictures


Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not all villains are created equal. In the aftermath of Thanos’s “Snapture” — aka “The Snap” — is there any villain who could live up to Infinity War and Endgame? Therein lies the biggest hurdle for Spider-Man: Far From Home. With director Jon Watts returning — along with two of Homecoming’s writers (Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, also responsible for Ant-Man and the Wasp) — FFH winds up being a hilarious trip through Europe we didn’t know the MCU needed.

In Ixtenco, Mexico, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) are investigating stories about a cyclone with a face when in swoops Quentin Beck (Jake Hyllenhaal) warning them that they don’t want any part of this. Back in New York, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his schoolmates — along with the whole other half of the planet who came back during “The Blip” after Iron Man reverses “The Snap” — are dealing with having been held back since they’re all the same age now as when they were turned to dust.

But the school year is over and it’s time to hit the trails for a summer trip to Europe. Peter has plans to woo MJ (Zendaya) atop the Eiffel Tower, but not before a group of monsters called The Elementals show up. Nick Fury has managed to track Peter down, bringing him up to speed, while hijacking their trip. Beck — dubbed Mysterio — has come from the multiverse and may be the only one who can stop the Elementals with only 48 hours until the most powerful monster arrives in Prague. And as Peter comes to terms with the loss of Tony Stark, the Avengers are in need of a new leader.

Taking inspiration from the classic National Lampoon Vacation series, the teens of Midtown High School are off on an adventure, with way more danger than they could have ever imagined. Watts has stepped up his game delivering even bigger action than Homecoming while keeping the same sensibilities. Spider-Man is always caught between doing what’s right as a superhero and making sure he keeps his friends safe. Even if he’s not above accidentally almost blowing up Brad.

Holland commands the role while being surrounded by a hilarious support group of actors. He still has major chemistry with Zendaya and it’s nice to see some other members of the troupe getting a piece of the romance pie. Watching Betty (Angourie Rice) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) fall in love on a plane ride is super cute and Happy (Jon Favreau) trying to keep Spidey’s “Peter Tingle” off his and Aunt May’s (Marisa Tomei) trail could make for an entire movie all its own.

But alas, we came here for our favorite neighborhood Spider-Man and while some may feel the villain is a little lackluster, it fits right into both the MCU needs and Spider-Man’s own comic history. It’s a fun twist getting played out and it’s very reminiscent of what Shane Black did in Iron Man 3. It’s nice to see Kevin Feige let some of the stories get a little wackier than others. I mean, a Spider-Man movie should honestly always be a comedy first. It’s also surprising to see Far From Home feature the most jaw-dropping MCU action scene yet.

Thankfully, Far From Home manages to be all of the above: fun, exciting, action-packed, hilarious, and even romantic. It’s pretty much everything we could want from a live action Spider-Man movie, even if it only manages to set up the next phase of MCU films at the very last second. Yes, stick around through the end credits for two that will blow you away. In the meantime, sit back and relax as Spider-Man: Far From Home swings in to save not just his classmates, but the summer as well.