The Secret Life of Pets: The IMAX 3D Experience

Do you have a pet? Maybe a Dog, Cat, Bird, Fish, Hamster, Bunny or even a Snake. Do you know what your pet does all day while you are at work? Well “The Secret Life of Pets” is going to show you exactly what type of shenanigans your pet gets into the moment you leave for work or school.

Max the dog has a cushy life with his owner. She spoils him rotten. One day Max’s owner comes home with another dog that she picked up from the pound. The new dog is introduced as Duke. Duke is HUGH. When the owner isn’t looking Max is not very nice to Duke and this causes Duke to misbehave. The next morning after the owner has left for work, Max, Duke and the other Dogs in their neighborhood are taken for a walk to Central Park. Duke wants to get back at Max, so he lures Max away from everyone and suddenly they are on the run from Animal Control. The story unfolds from there…

“The Secret Life of Pets” is absolutely hilarious!! I laughed out loud many times. The 3D Aspects are awesome. I found myself ducking a lot. There are so many fun scenes from the Poodle who throws a Heavy-Metal Party, the Dachshund who uses the Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer Beater as a Massage Tool, to the Cat who eats a whole chicken that is sitting in the refrigerator. The Poodle is so interesting that the movie circles back to the Poodle’s Heavy-Metal party a second time. There are so many crazy things going on that all you can do is shake your head.

“The Secret Life of Pets” is definitely worth the ticket.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Legend of Tarzan: The IMAX 3D Experience

“The Legend of Tarzan” was not on my original “Watch List”, but I decided to give it a look.

Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) became a modern man living as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke with his lovely wife Jane (Margot Robbie). John has now been invited back to the Congo where he once called home to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament. John is unaware that he is the pawn in a crazy, deadly scheme of revenge and greed masterminded by Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz). Unfortunately the people involved with Captain Leon Rom have no idea what’s in store for them when they try to take Tarzan or hurt anyone he loves. The story unfolds from there…

The story starts off painfully slow, in fact the first 40 minutes were useless. Once the story heats up and the action becomes lively, the movie becomes interesting. Samuel L. Jackson’s character does nothing more than provide comic relief. Christoph Waltz always gives his character in any movie he plays in everything he has. This installment is probably the best Tarzan movie of modern times.

There is plenty of action and lots of computer generated animals. You get that dark dank jungle locale and there are some stampeding scenes that remind me of one of the earlier Jurassic Park movies where the Dinosaurs are chasing after the Scientists.

In a lackluster summer of blockbusters thus far, Tarzan is probably the best movie ticket for the 4th of July Holiday weekend.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

Independence Day: Resurgence: The IMAX 3D Experience

Have you ever gone to the movies and while you were waiting for the movie to start, you have second thoughts…? That was my dilemma today. If I could have gotten my money back I would have left the theater. I just had my doubts about seeing this sequel.

It’s 20 years since “Independence Day” and we have taken up residence on the Moon. We have a fully operational Space Station with astronauts and scientists manning the station. Flights to the moon are routine. The current president of the United States is a Woman. A HUGH celebration is in effect honoring the fallen of 20 years ago.

On the Moon, we mistaken a friendly arrival from another planet who comes to warn Earth that an Intergalactic war is about to take place and Earth is in trouble. We fire upon the friendly ship destroying everything but its messenger. Once we find out what’s about to happen it’s too late. The Alien Ship with the “Queen” as already entered Earth’s air space. The story unfolds from there…

Bottom line…”Independence Day: Resurgence” attempts to match the same “End-Of-The-World” urgency that its predecessor did. It falls far short of even coming close.

While the movie is visually appealing and the CGI and Cinematography are stunning, the rest of the movie, story and plot are missing.

“Independence Day Resurgence” is best viewed on Cable.

This is a 1 Star Movie!

Free State of Jones

It’s another edition of “Thursday Night at the Movies with The Movie Warrior”.

“Free State of Jones” is an Epic Civil War Satire based on factual events that occurred between 1862 and 1876.

Matthew McConaughey is Newt Knight a stubborn southern farmer who goes up against the Confederate Army. Over time Newt assembles an army of his own made up of free slaves, women and white men who defected from the army.

They fought against farmers losing everything to the Confederacy, slavery, the right to vote and any act that was unjust or unlawful during those times.
This is a big story to tell and it can’t be told in 2 hours and nineteen minutes. The movie jumps around a lot. There are actually 2 stories occurring simultaneously. There are many holes left unfilled.

This is the type of movie that has all of the elements that grate on my last nerve, “Racism”, “The N Word being used rampantly”, “The KKK running amok”, “Hangings, Lynching” and “People being beat with a whip”.

If you wish to stomach all of that, have at it!!

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Central Intelligence

I am not a Kevin Hart fan and “Central Intelligence” wasn’t on my original watch list, but I decided to give it a look anyway.

Kevin Hart is Calvin Joyner the guy in High School who was the most likely to succeed. Dwayne Johnson is Bob Stone the guy in High School who was the butt of fat jokes and pranks.
Fast forward 20 years…Calvin Joyner married his High School sweet-heart and is an accountant in a prestigious firm. Bob Stone has lost 200 pounds and is a field Agent in the CIA. Bob contacts Calvin because Calvin always came to his rescue in High School.

After Bob and Calvin meet for drinks things start to unravel with a case that Bob is involved with. He needs Calvin’s help. The story unfolds from there…

Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart actually make a good comedy duo. They feed off of each other pretty well. “Central Intelligence” is funny with some slap-stick thrown in, serious at times, but also entertaining with a decent amount of action.

The movie is better than I thought it would be. It’s not all jokes for Kevin Hart’s character Calvin Joyner. “Central Intelligence” is probably the best movie I have seen that stars Kevin Hart.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

Finding Dory in 3D

Sometimes Animated Movies are more thought-provoking, entertaining and intriguing than the movies made by adults… I will review “Central Intelligence” later this weekend.

Dory a Blue Tang Fish (Ellen DeGeneres) has a short memory span. Somehow Dory loses her parents. As Dory tries to figure out what when wrong, a year passes. She frantically searches the big blue sea. Soon though she finds out that it’s possible that her parents were “captured” and placed in “Quarantine” at the Science Marina Aquarium. Dory, Nemo and Jenny set out in search of Dory’s parents, but then a giant Octopus chases them and Dory gets separated from Nemo and Jenny. The story unfolds from there…

“Finding Dory” is cute, funny, entertaining, thought-provoking and light-hearted. The 3D aspects were excellent. There is a message about the meaning of family. This message is for every one of all ages.

I loved the cinematography and the graphics. The colors in the ocean with all of the different types of fish were awesome.

If you are looking for some light-hearted entertainment, I suggest “Finding Dory”.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

Now You See Me 2

This is another edition of “Thursday Night at the Movies with “The Movie Warrior”.

Three years later…here we are for another magical installment of “Now You See Me”. Did you see the first installment? If not you should.

This installment finds the Four Horseman (Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco) performing extreme magic and illusions to tantalize crowds of fans. The Four Horseman unwillingly traveling across the globe to China and once there they are enticed to perform their biggest and most dangerous trick yet. They are tasked with stealing a computer chip that has the power to erase every single computer on the planet. That feat will indeed take some serious magic and illusion to pull off. The story unfolds from there…

Plain and simple this installment tries too hard. The magic appears forced. There is a lot of magic and illusion. It’s practically non-stop. The first installment was exciting and fun. This second installment is intriguing but not very interesting. There are parts of the movie that are totally boring. There is no context at the start of the movie. It just starts without explanation. You are left to try and figure it out.

All of the originals from the first installment are back with the exception of the female Horseman, Henley Reeves who was played by Isla Fisher. In this installment there is a new female Horseman, Lula played by Lizzy Caplan.

Magic and Illusion are what made “Now You See Me” an enjoyable movie. It’s the overkill of Magic and Illusion in this second installment that destroys the fun.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!

Me Before You

“Me Before You” is a screen adaptation of the NY Times Best Selling Novel by Jojo Moyes. I actually read this book and it was a “page turner”. I could not put the book down.

“Me Before You” is about two people who are unexpectedly brought together. Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) a small town Englishwoman has lost her long time job at the Buttered Bun. She is the major bread winner in her family. Louisa goes down to the Job Employment Center to find work. She is sent out on an interview for a position as a companion to a paralyzed wealthy Englishman Will Traynor (Sam Claflin).

Louisa is hired by Will’s mother Camilla Traynor (Janet McTeer) on a 6 month contract.
Louisa starts immediately, but during her introduction to Will Traynor, Louisa has second thoughts. The story unfolds from there…

With the exception of a few parts in the book the movie stayed true to the main story. I found the movie entertaining, moving and thought provoking. I thought that Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin were great together.

The movie is a bit of a tear-jerker, but based on the story that is to be expected.
I think that “Me Before You” is a good movie and it deserves a look.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

X-Men: Apocalypse The IMAX 3D Experience

Welcome to a special installment of Thursday Night at the Movies with The Movie Warrior!

“X-Men: Apocalypse” is a very ambitious undertaking that doesn’t quite meet the mark. I found the plot to be bloated with no deflation and no explanation. There were really strong performances, but they were over shadowed by a plot that never quite comes together as it’s all over the place.

In this installment, everything gets torn up, destroyed literally and then put back together.

The best parts of the movie are the special effects, cinematography and the 3D aspects. There is non-stop action, but sometimes it does not make sense. That’s not enough to justify spending $17 dollars to see the movie.
To me personally after 16 years the “X-Men” franchise has run its course and is now an overdone franchise, also it was disappointing to not see Halle Barry reprise her role as “Storm”.

This is a 2 1/2 Star Movie!

The Angry Birds Movie in 3D

Have you ever wondered why the “Angry Birds” are so angry? Well you can find out in “The Angry Birds Movie”.

“The Angry Birds” reside on their own paradise island out in the middle of nowhere. The Pigs from Pig Island decide to pay the Angry Birds a visit. All of the Angry Birds except “Red” (Jason Sudeikis) are willing to welcome the Pigs to their paradise. What they don’t know is that the Pigs plan to steal all of the Bird Eggs. The Bird Eggs are the soon-to-be off-spring of the Angry Birds. The Pigs plan to dine on eggs for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

After staging a HUGH party to get the Angry Birds away from their homes, the Pigs make off with all of the eggs. By the time the Angry Birds figure out what has happened, the pigs have all but left the paradise. “Red” rallies the Angry Birds to devise a plan to get their eggs back. The story unfolds from there…

“The Angry Birds” Movie is not an “Inside Out”, but it does have moments of entertainment and laughter. There are parts of the movie that are a bit disjointed and would be over a child’s head. Young children will not notice this, but adults should. This is another attempt at bringing a video game to the big screen. Overall it’s so-so. The 3D aspects are awesome. When I took off my glasses I could not see the movie.

A child will find “The Angry Birds” Movie enjoyable.