Stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Kurt Russell, Micheal Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn with Ben Browder, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel Directed by James Gunn Just to quickly get it out of the way, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 2 is a riot of a film, a romp of an adventure right from the get-go. The opening is such that you really won’t know what to look at with a battle royale going on in the background while little Baby Groot (still voiced by Vin Diesel) frolics about in the foreground to catchy pop music. Sure, the overall plot may seem to be non-existent for a moment, but rest assured, the Guardians live up to their name and ultimately save the galaxy once again - like there’s any doubt. Suffice to say, if you enjoyed the first go around, you’ll find this one just as enjoyable. Now, go off, watch it and then come back and we’ll get into it a little more in depth. So… some spoilers ahead, yeh? . . . Vol 2 picks up on a few threads left from the first movie, particularly regarding the mystery father of Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord (Chris Pratt). When Yondu (Michael Rooker) originally picked up Peter from Earth, it was to deliver the young boy to his father as a job, something Yondu didn’t do, holding on to Peter for years and eventually making him one of the Ravagers. Peter’s father finally catches up here, and it turns out Ego (Kurt Russell) is not only Peter’s father but he’s also a Celestial (those super big powerful beings glimpsed in the first movie). For most of the movie, the Guardians are split into two groups with Peter, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista) journey with Ego and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to Ego’s world where we learn about Ego, his connection to Peter’s mom and some father/son bonding. Meanwhile, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Baby Groot and a captured Nebula (Karen Gillan) have to deal with a Ravager mutiny as Yondu loses control of his crew. Plot wise, it’s the Quill story that feels like its treading water for a while and it almost seems like there is no actual plot where they are concerned, just melodrama, while the Rocket half is practically one escapade after another. The cast are obviously having fun, so much so it looks like others want to get in on the fun too. We appear to have a load of guest stars with Sylvester Stallone getting a billing in the main titles (but is really a glorified guest star, but still a nice addition), and most others are fun surprises. Russell gets the de-aging treatment this time (see Micheal Douglas in Ant-Man or Robert Downey Jr in Captain America: Civil War) and their technique is getting better and better. Russel looks really good in the 1980 sequence, almost as if RJ MacReady (from The Thing) got a shave and started smiling a lot. Director James Gunn is obviously having fun with the characters and the universe as a whole, dropping in lots of references for the fans. He also manages to ramp up the galaxy, giving us some spectacular vistas, set-designs, lots of aliens and their worlds, along with some new creatures as well. Yes, it’s a visual feast that is worthy of an IMAX 3D presentation if you can afford it. And as before, his numerous song selection works wonders for the overall soundtrack. So, lots of fun to be had but it might also depend on mood, but the humour and hilarity is infectious enough for a good time. The action is nicely crafted with some outrageous bits (like the opening), and there are a few mid credits scene, some of which tackle a couple of dangling plots lines and one obscure reference possibly setting up the next movie. Still, it is James Gunn doing what he does best and making it work beautifully. Rating ****/5 Meanwhile... follow the links for reviews of... The Fate of The Furious (Fast and Furious 8) [posted April 15, 2017] Ghost in the Shell [2017] (Posted April 1, 2017) Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here.
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Stars (Vocally) Alec Baldwin, Miles Christopher Bakshi, James McGrath, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, with Steve Buscemi and Tobey Maguire Directed by Tom McGrath * Click for review of Ghost In The Shell [2017] This is a tricky one because there was a missing element between the trailers and the movie that the marketing team probably had a hard time selling. A quick pre-title prologue sets up the overall scenario, however, suggesting that the movie is really not what it may seem based on the trailers. That does not detract from how incredibly fun this movie actually is, and just what it celebrates. For one, the movie has a screwball comedy tone, and that is aided by its main conceit: everything outrageous that happens is all thanks to the imagination of little Tim (Miles Christopher Bakshi), as narrated by an adult Tim (Tobey Maguire). When memory and imagination get together, truly anything can happen, and a baby can walk, talk and do business with other babies as part of some major corporation involved in an elaborate case of corporate espionage. Of a sort. I’ll leave it to you to figure if I got close on that plot idea. What the core idea boils down to is Tim dealing with he arrival of a new baby brother, who seems to have taken over the household like a boss, hence a Bass Baby (Alec Baldwin), and Tim’s imagination runs super-wild in trying to figure out who or what this new intruder actually is. The fact that it celebrates the imagination of childhood is what I love about it. Director Tom McGrath, who pulled off the slight if super hilarious Penguins of Madagascar movie, does an amazing job, very occasionally presenting the dichotomy of fantasy and reality, and still allowing the fantasy to go hog-wild while nailing a high percentage of the jokes. The almost pastel colour palate for the “real-life” sequences gives the movie an aged feel, again evoking the era of screwball comedies from the 50s-60s, additional aided by the excellent score by Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro. This is pure family entertainment where the kids can enjoy the animation and hijinks while the adults can take in the jokes with some knowing nods, and every kid with a younger sibling might relate easily. There is nothing too deep to contemplate here, but it is enjoyable nonetheless. Rating: ****/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Power Rangers [2017]Stars Darce Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, Becky G with Bill Vader, Elizabeth Banks and Bryan Cranston Directed by Dean Isrealite Somewhere in all this is a decent teen drama with the kids trying to figure out who they are while discovering some artefact from space. At least, for almost two-thirds of the movie, and it felt like a nice throwback to the teen movies of the 80s with a sci-fi twist. However, to access the dull power available to them, they need to, in some way, to find their true selves. Easier said than done, and in that, we find five strangers coming together to (sort of) discover themselves. And then the jump-suits come out, and we have giant dino robots and the whole thing just falls apart. Then again, I wasn’t really that into Power Rangers. I wanted to watch Life, but the ‘film’ hadn’t arrived on time and I had a couple of hours to kill. Got it another day, so the review is below this one. So anyway, this one is not really my thing. The young stars do okay while Bryan Cranston gets to phone in his performance (literally? he a hologram on the wall!) Elizabeth Banks is almost unrecognisable and appears to be having a ball as the villainous Rita Repulsa who has an unhealthy need for gold. She actually adds an element of campy fun to the whole thing. Fans of the original series may enjoy this, the action is decent enough and far better than what I can recall from the TV show, and… yeh it’s a decent two thirds that seemed to try to take things a little seriously. I just couldn’t find anything beyond that. Rating: **1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Life [2017]Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ryan Reynolds, Arlyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya Directed by Daniel Espinosa Semi-spoilers… … but really, given the nature of the movie with the trailer, if you don’t see things coming, you’re a movie-newbie. This was almost cool although the conceit itself was slightly different from most that have come before. For a while, I figured it was going to be The Thing on a space station, because it was a single cell that grows into a threat. Instead, we got more of Alien with the rapid growth cycle just so we have a legitimate visual threat going after our hapless scientists. And one groan-worthy moment was the terminal cliche, where one of the scientist showed off his sweet wife and new-born baby. Dude, you are SO dead. It almost felt by the numbers, and we just need to guess who was going to be next. For that, you can depend on hubris. Still, the design of the alien creature was unique and the growth cycle allowed the designers to evolve and advance the designs, which suggests the creature may be more at home in a liquid environment than on land (so, suggesting Mars had vast bodies of water?) The cast do well enough, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson leading the way most of the time. Ryan Reynolds fills the token nice guy, the one that everyone likes but gets killed off early just so you know how dangerous the situation is. Director Daniel Espinosa does what he can with the almost rote story, managing a few really good set-pieces. Taking a cue from Gravity, we have a nice single-take like shot to get the lay of the space-station setting, meet the characters and kick off the story. the low-gravity setting allows for a very loose free-float form of filming, although the implied claustrophobia doesn’t quite register at times. In all, it’s a decent effort that is a slight cut above the norm with few jump-scares but some genuine terror built into the idea, story and plot. Or maybe I’m just too jaded and was expecting something more. Then again… we’re still in in the Q1 (Jan-Mar) movie cycle, so we can’t expect much even if we can get the occasional surprise. Rating ***/5 |
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