Category: Adventure

Spider-Man: Homecoming in 3D

This installment of Spider-Man is “Fresh and Entertaining”

After six installments and several lead actor changes, Marvel figured out how to energize Spider-Man and make the franchise entertaining again.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is fresh off his adventure with the Avengers. He returns home where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). Trying to get back to a normal life, Peter attends high school, but at the end of each day he can’t wait for school to end so he can don his Spidey suit and fight crime. Each time Spider-Man tries to save someone or stop a criminal he leaves destruction and destroyed property in his wake.

Tony Stark, Iron-Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is Spider-Man’s mentor and tries to keep Spider-Man out of trouble, but Iron-Man often has to swoop in to assist Spidey sometimes needing to rescue Spidey. Peter Parker gets wind of “The Vulture” (Michael Keaton) and a plan of destruction that the Vulture and his men are planning. Iron-Man tries to keep Spider-Man out of harms-way, but to no avail. The story unfolds from there…

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is “Fresh, Entertaining, Action-Packed, Quirky and at times a bit annoying”.
Out of the previous six installments “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is one of the best.

There is great cinematography and cool special effects. The movie was cast well. Tom Holland is perfect as the young Peter Parker.

BTW…I love Tyne Daly. It was great to see her in this movie!

If you are a “Spider-Man” fan, then “Spider-Man: Homecoming” should not be missed.

This is a 4 ½ Star Movie!

Baby Driver

Wow!! What a nice surprise…”Baby Driver” is an awesome Action/Adventure/Drama Crime Caper!

“Baby Driver” is about a guy named “Baby” (Ansel Elgort) who is a getaway driver that needs music piped into his ears via his iPod as he drives. With the music blasting in his ears, Baby whips, spins and eludes cars chasing him as he makes his getaway. Baby believes he has worked his last job and starts to settle into a normal life, but a crime boss (Kevin Spacey) comes calling and lures Baby back in for just one more job, but the heist goes all wrong and Baby’s life and those in his life are in danger. The story unfolds from there…

The movie is fast-paced, fun and very well executed. The music throughout the crime caper is awesome and will have you bouncing in your seat. What a nice surprise! I did not know what to expect when I first heard about “Baby Driver”. The movie is better than the previews indicate.

This is a 4 ½ Star Movie!

Transformers: The Last Knight: The IMAX 3D Experience

I haven’t decided whether I like “Transformers: The Last Knight” or despise it. I’m concerned that I can’t summon any feelings toward the movie. It’s one of those movies where you leave the theater and you wonder…what just happened during the last 2 1/2 hours?

This is the fifth installment of a franchise that should have stopped at installment number two. The first “Transformers” was great, but each new installment got progressively worse. The two main characters from the first two installments left the franchise, one after the second installment, the other after the third.

There was no cohesiveness from the third installment to the fourth. This is where Shia LaBeouf exits and Mark Wahlberg enters. But alas this is Hollywood and these movies do make money!

This fifth installment starts off giving a history lesson and ends up with earth fighting to survive being destroyed.

There is mayhem and chaos from start to finish. Non-stop action and great cinematography. The Transformers are always the coolest element of these movies. Anthony Hopkins lends his acting abilities to this installment. He is the brightest spot in the movie.

But alas…the plot is tissue paper thin!! No explanation or reason for the events that occur is given. Two hours and twenty nine minutes is way longer than this movie should have been.

Just think there are two more installments coming your way…They won’t be directed by Michael Bay.

This is a 1 1/2 Star Movie!

The Mummy – The 3D IMAX Experience

“The Mummy” is an utter waste of time…

Oh my gosh…What was I thinking…”The Mummy” is one of those movies where you are asking yourself, “Is it over yet I’m ready to leave”.

An Ancient Egyptian Princess, Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her long ago and was believed to be buried deep enough in the unforgiving desert awakens after her tomb has been removed from underground. In order to revive herself Ahmanet needs to feed on humans mainly men. She uses her evil powers to control unsuspecting men by getting inside their heads and getting them to do her bidding.
Ahmanet believes that the man, Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) who freed her is destined to be with her forever. Ahmanet won’t rest until she is able to control Nick and get him to be her “forever prince”. The story unfolds from there…

The remake of a remake, “The Mummy” is boring…There was nothing exciting about it. It’s spends a lot of time appearing dark and dank. The bright spot is the cinematography. This is the start of a new franchise that Universal is calling “The Dark Universe”. This is definitely not one of Tom Cruise’s better movies. It’s not his fault. He tries to make something happen, but it never really materializes.

The remake of the remake of “The Mummy” is best viewed on cable.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Wonder Woman in 3D

Wow!! What a fresh first installment! “Wonder Woman” was awesome!

The story starts off perfectly, an Amazon Princess, Diana (Gal Gadot) is living an idyllic life. As a young girl she observes her Mother and other Woman Warriors as they train constantly to be prepared for war. Diana wants to be just like them, so she too is allowed to train. The everyday peacefulness they enjoy on their isolated island is interrupted when a pilot (Chris Pine) crash lands in the surrounding sea. By this time Diana is a trained warrior so she dives into the sea to save the pilot.
There is an army chasing the pilot. They make their way to the island and a small war breaks out. The story unfolds from there…

Great special effects, awesome cinematography, lots of action and a great story to start this franchise. Gal Gadot is perfect as “Wonder Woman”. The actors all give strong performances. The story has heart, humor and intrigue.

“Wonder Woman” will be another box office hit for DC. I am excited to see what the next installment will bring.

This is a 4 ½ Star Movie!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

At Last…This is supposed to be the final installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. To be perfectly honest I believe the franchise died after “Dead Man’s Chest”.

In this installment the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is down on his luck. Things get really dark when a band of deadly ghost sailors lead by the notorious Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) escapes from the Devil’s Triangle. The ghostly band of sailors are out to kill every Pirate they can find especially Jack Sparrow.
Captain Jack however continues to get himself in predicaments. His only hope of survival is to locate the “Trident of Poseidon”. Jack will have to team up with an Astronomer known as Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario). On the other front though Captain Salazar gets a line on where Captain Jack is located. The story unfolds from there…

Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar breathes life into this installment. He is a breath of fresh air. Aside from the special effects, costumes and cinematography Captain Salazar is by far the best element in the movie.

The movie is entertaining, but the problem is that it drags at times and it’s way too long at 2 hours 15 minutes. The story just seems to drone on and on…

This franchise is old and tired and should sail off into the sunset.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!

Alien: Covenant

Ok, Ok, Ok…I had not planned to see “Alien: Covenant”, especially after seeing “Life” back in March and having nightmares to boot! But my curiosity got the best of me plus, I have seen the other three “Alien” installments. So here goes…

“Alien: Covenant” is an epic Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure that has parts of “Prometheus”, but also gets back to its original roots of “In-gestation” and “Incubation”.
Believe it or not this 4th installment is fresh! It does pick up some parts of “Prometheus” to remind you of what transpired there over the past few years.

What really makes “Alien: Covenant” work is the cast. This cast is way better than the “Life” cast and is on par with the 1979 hit “Alien” which starred Sigourney Weaver. Michael Fassbender reprises his role from “Prometheus”.

“Bloody, Edge-of-Your Seat Suspenseful and Intriguing” are how to best describe “Alien: Covenant”.
Michael Fassbender is such a “Butt”, but I mean that in a nice way. There always has to be an “Antagonist” in these types of movies and he is it!!

The door has been left open again! so I suspect we will see a 5th installment in a couple of years.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 the 3D IMAX Experience

In this installment the team continues their adventures as they make their way across the galaxy. “The Guardians” must fight to keep their family together as they are confronted with challenge after challenge, but one challenge made by Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) supposed father “Ego” (Kurt Russell) proves to be more than the team bargained for. The story unfolds from there…

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is a CGI feast. The special effects and cinematography are off the charts. There is plenty of action, suspense and intrigue. I did not review the first installment, but saw it later. This installment is a lot cruder and a lot more violent than the first installment, so Parents beware.

The movie is fast-paced and will keep you on the edge of your seat. There is plenty of humor, probably more than in the first installment. Normally sequels lose some luster, but I would say this installment kept it real and fresh. My favorite Guardian is “Baby Groot”. He looks like a miniature Mummy.

If you are a die-hard Marvel Comic Fan, you will love “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

Fate of the Furious: The IMAX Experience

“The Fast & Furious Franchise Lives On…”

I was actually stunned to hear that another installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise was coming our way after the great sendoff that was given for Paul Walker during Furious 7. I thought it would be tough for the original cast to continue without him, but I guess I was wrong. It is really all about making “Dead Presidents”.

So here we are two years later and the original cast minus Paul Walker with about five new faces ventures into another realm. There is some very good casting although this installment moves further away from its roots.

The story starts off great with Toretto (Diesel) and Letty (Rodriguez) together doing their thing in Cuba living what appears to be a normal life. The rest of the team is no-where around. The peace that Toretto and Letty enjoy can only last so long. A new villain makes its way into Toretto’s life. This villain needs Toretto’s special driving skills to pull of some major international jobs. In order to get Toretto’s help, this villain has already procured something that is very precious to Toretto, so how can he refuse? The story unfolds from there…

In order to keep this franchise going there needed to be a fresh new story, with fresh new characters. On a very small scale this story is fresh with new characters, but on the larger scale it’s a “Been There, Done That” sort of story. Unfortunately Jordana Brewster did not reprise her role as “Mia”. She is one of the original cast members.

There is a ton of action, serious car chases, crashes and cool moves. The computer age is rampant in this movie as there are many high-tech maneuvers made and used. There is even some comedy relief. During the opening credits the music that plays is off the chain…

“Fate of the Furious” is a must see in IMAX. The camera angles, sound and the cinematography are excellent and you will feel like you are in the cars and planes riding right along with the gang.

The movie is not bad, it’s just not as fresh as it needs to be with an eighth installment.

“Fate of the Furious” is definitely worth a look.

I am almost sure there will be a ninth installment.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

The Ghost in the Shell in 3D

“Ghost in the Shell” is the live-action, big screen adaptation of the popular Japanese Manga series. The 3D aspects are very good. The story lags a bit and the plot is non-existent, but the movie is not bad.

Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind. She was saved from a terrible accident and through surgical procedures was “Rebuilt” as a Cyber-being, part human, part robot. Major is enhanced to be the perfect crime fighter. She has the speed, agility, flexibility and combat instincts to thwart many bad guys.

Things go awry when Major starts to show signs of having memories from her former life. She is trying to figure things out and understand more about her being. She also discovers that she has been lied to. Major will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of who she really is, but the people who created her can’t allow that. The story unfolds from there…

The action and special effects are awesome! The story is a bit off and lags at various points. This is what keeps the movie from being 4 stars.

I am a fan of Scarlett Johansson, so I wanted to see how she would do. She was good as Major.

If there is another installment, there needs to be a deeper story, more intrigue and suspense.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!