Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom in IMAX

Happy Holidays!!

I actually saw “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” on Christmas Eve. I needed to think about what I want to say about the movie, so here goes…

It’s been 5 years since the 1st Aquaman installment. In this installment we are reminded that the Black Manta failed to defeat Aquaman previously, so now he wields the power of an Ancient malevolent force that he believes is enough to take Aquaman down. Aquaman on the other hand is looking to end Black Manta’s reign of terror by forming an alliance with his brother, Orm the former King of Atlantis. Aquaman and Orm set aside their differences to join forces to try and take down the Black Manta and save their kingdom once and for all. The story unfolds from there…

The movie gets to the point in a hurry, but there is so much ground to cover that it’s a mess of scenes that are not cohesive. There were attempts of silly humor along the way that really did not make any sense. The scenes that were “Funny” probably weren’t supposed to be.

Unfortunately, this installment stopped trying and it just whimpers out. Jason Momoa does his part, but the movie does really cover any new ground. The IMAX Aspects were not worth the ticket price. This is not the worst DC Comics film, but it makes the Super Hero movie industry look floundering. I am usually excited after seeing a Super Hero episode, but after seeing this Aquaman installment, I will have to think long and hard about seeing another Super Hero movie. I wasn’t in a hurry to write my review because upon leaving the theater I was extremely disappointed. I needed to put everything in perspective before writing anything.

If you did not like the first Aquaman installment, this installment won’t win you over. If you are a DC Comics Hero Fan, then you will probably want to see this installment, so you can make your own judgement.

This is a 1 ½ Star Movie!!

The Marvels in AMC Dolby

I saw “The Marvels” on Friday Nov 10th, but I needed time to think about my review before I posted.

Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree Revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together with Nick Fury’s help, this unexpected trio must team-up and learn to work in together to save the Universe as “The Marvels.”

The Marvels is an at times vibrant addition to the Marvel Universe and at other times it appears to be a jumbled mess of a movie. Its chocked full of action, fantastic cinematography and well-timed special effects, but the story is disjointed. The movie does not come across as a sequel to the 2019 Captain Marvel. This causes confusion, because it’s not obvious where this installment should be in the saga. There is plenty of energy going with Captain Marvel (Brie), Ms. Marvel (Iman) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah). The movie does have its entertaining moments.

The saving grace is that the movie is only 1 hour and 45 minutes running time. That was just long enough.

If you are a Marvel Universe Fan, then “The Marvels” should not be missed.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 in IMAX

If you have not seen any of the previous Mission Impossible installments, you are doing yourself a dis-service. This is one of those franchises where all of the installments are good!!

Ethan Hunt and the IMF Team are back. They embark on what turns out to be their most dangerous mission yet. The mission is to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most. The story unfolds from there…

Hands down this is one of the best installments in the franchise. The story is intriguing, suspenseful and edge-of-your-seat entertaining. The action is awesome and the cinematography at times is breath-taking. The execution of the movie is great and that’s what makes it so awesome. The running time of 2 hours and 43 minutes went by too fast and it didn’t seem long enough. The IMAX aspects are awesome. You will feel like you are part of all of the action in the movie.

I can’t wait for Part 2. I might see Part 1 again.

Your Mission if you choose to accept is to see “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1”.

This is a 5 Star Movie!!

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny in AMC Dolby

Harrison Ford reprises his role as Indiana Jones in this Dare Devil Adventure where he races against time to recover a missing legendary dial that if in the wrong hands can alter the course of history. Indiana Jones is joined by his goddaughter on this adventure where he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA. The story unfolds from there…

This installment is not as bad as some of the critics have made it out to be. There is still room for Indiana Jones’s adventures. The only thing is that Harrison Ford has gotten too old to make these types of movies. There is tons of action, special effects, intrigue and the cinematography at times is breathtaking. This installment is definitely worth checking out.

I will state that I personally feel that the 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that included Sean Connery was the absolute best installment in this franchise.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!!

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in 3D

It’s 1994 and a new faction of Transformers, The Maximals join the Autobots as Allies in the battle for earth.

An Ancient artifact arrives in a museum in New York. One of the Curators is extremely fascinated to uncover its origin. The Curator works late into the evening and by mistake she removes the covering that was shielding the artifact. Doing this causes a signal to be sent by the artifact up in the sky bringing unwanted enemies to earth who had been looking for the artifact. The story unfolds from there…

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a 90’s thrill ride. Tons of action, special effects, intrique and cinematography make this move enjoyable. It’s wholesome fun and just about anyone who is a Transformers fan will enjoy the movie. What keeps this from being a 4- or 5-star movie is that it gets off to a slow start and there are a few dead spots.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!!

The Flash in AMC Dolby

“The Flash” starts off with Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. The story unfolds from there…

The first 80 minutes of the movie are slow and go. The real action doesn’t start until the movie is half over. The Dolby effects are awesome. The cinematography is very good. There was a ton of CGI used, sometimes it was a bit over kill. The story is jagged and does not have a real flow. There are too many lull spots in the first 80 minutes, but the action that ensues makes it worth the ticket.

I was surprised to see Michael Keaton as Batman. The current Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) makes an appearance, but why not bring back Linda Carter as Wonder Woman since Michael Keaton was brought back. I feel this is a casting mix match as Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman represents now and the future, where Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman represents the past just like Michael Keaton’s Batman.

This installment is a bit of Justice League, so you do get the opportunity to see a few Super Heroes in Action.

This is DC Comics not Marvel Universe. You decide for yourself.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!

FAST X in AMC IMAX

The premises of Fast X is about many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything–and everyone–that Dom loves, forever. The story unfolds from there…

The first 15 minutes of the movie are awesome and it sets the stage. Unfortunately, this fast-moving vehicle has no driver, crashes and burns. There are way too many sub plots that show up and cause confusion making the movie difficult to follow. Some of the acting is suspect.

This is supposed to be the last installment in this franchise, if that is so, the franchise goes out on a whimper instead of a bang!

The most exciting things about the movie are the car chases and the fact that veteran actress Rita Moreno makes an appearance along with Helen Mirren returning as she was in a previous installment.

I was truly excited about the fact that there was another installment. I have really enjoyed the Fast & Furious Franchise dating back to 2001. This installment leaves me COLD!! I did not enjoy this movie at all and I am very sad about that.

If you are a fan of the Fast & Furious Franchise, you should take look and decide for yourself. Personally spending $22 for an IMAX ticket seems to have been a waste.

This is a 2 ½ Star Movie!!

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

In several respects, I think we all knew as fans that BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER would not – indeed could not – be the Marvel Movie most of us WANTED to see as the follow-on to the original “Black Panther’ movie. The unexpected death of Chadwick Bozeman almost FORCES this movie to be something other than the straightforward, high-energy continuation of the original story arc it’s safe to assume most of its fans hoped to see at the conclusion of 2018’s“Black Panther” … and so it is not. But it is an interesting and good movie in it’s own right, with all of the things we all expect in a Marvel superhero movie – action, familiar characters, tight and interesting story telling, sneaky humor – and in many respects it opens up the larger story of the Black Panther and Wakanda to the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which I suspect will be a good thing going forward.

The movie does have an air of sadness about it – the movie opens with Princess Shuri frantically racing to find a technological solution to her brother’s fatal illness, a fight she cannot and does not win. The Requiem portion of the movie, in which a deeply grieving Wakandan nation celebrates and buries its king while struggling to find a way forward, is a very well done piece of the movie, and sets the tone of – for lack of a better way to say it –the challenges and conflicts around the concept of FOUND BALANCE the primary characters will struggle with for the remainder of the movie. Angela Bassett does a true star turn as the now aged and sad Wakandan Queen Ramonda who must somehow contain her own grief, hold the hostile forces of the world at bay, and provide a lodestar to the grief maddened Princess. I should also note the movie tries hard to convey a passing of time since the first movie, of things that have happened … not just the loss of the King, and not even the Blip as they refer to the mind-numbing events around Thanos and his attack on the Homeworld. But of the passing of many things …

At this point, we are introduced to the ‘villains’ in this movie, Prince Namor and his Talokeans, a staple of the comics world but new to the MCU. Namor is the first publicly named MUTANT in the MCU (with significant implications for future movies one supposes!) and his Talokeans are a blue skinned race of modified humans – descended from the Mayans surviving in the Yucatan at the time of the Spanish Conquest – saved by a variant of vibranium influenced plant life, and representing a mighty but hidden undersea kingdom. In addition, the Talokeans possess vast amounts of vibranium, and to a vibranium obsessed world could potentially represent an alternate source of the precious mineral. Namor of course is determined to prevent his people being mistreated by the surface world, and he tries to force the Wakandans to both cover his actions to date – he has committed an act of war against the Americans for example – and do things he thinks he wants relative to the surface world. Queen Ramonda sees this as madness immediately, but isn’t quite sure how to handle yet another wrinkle in her world …

The interactions between Namor and Shuri, and the Talokeans and Wakanda, play out the challenges of FOUND BALANCE throughout much of the remainder of the movie. Namor, who has kept his people hidden under the seas for the last 500 or so years, has been isolated for so long he no longer knows HOW to find balance with friend or foe, and so he rushes to war. Shuri, who rejects the mystical side of her traditional culture in the rush of youth and her need to absorb all that she has lost at such a young age – a point made quite subtly by the Elder M’Baku of the Jabari tribe after the funeral of her mother – likewise does not know how to balance the blind rage she feels towards Namor and the Talokeans as anger and urgency becomes war and its ugly aftermath. There are a number of action scenes between the Talokeans and the Wakandas throughout the movie, and they provide more than enough of the high energy one normally expects – indeeds looks for! – in a Marvel movie!

In the end of course, the strength of Wakanda’s traditional culture, and indeed of the Black Panther itself, asserts itself in time to prevent disaster from occurring, and the madness of war is halted, with the promise of a tentative but positive alliance in place between the Wakandans and the Talokeans to protect the vibranium. This then gives the Princess Shuri time to process her own losses and begin her own healing process, as she realizes she must move to take on the mantle of the Wakandan throne.

The movie ends on a surprising and sad but overall, quite positive note. The door is left open for future installments.

I would note there were a couple of particularly effective performances worth noting. As mentioned above, Angela Bassett was simply outstanding as Queen Ramonda throughout the movie. Winston Duke brought a seriousness and depth to the M’Baku character that makes it clear he will play an outsized role in the story arcs going forward. Tenoch Heurta did an outstanding job as Namor, a difficult character and one who will play an important role throughout the MCU going forward. I should also note the Marvel people have managed to keep the humor rolling throughout this movie, even given its somewhat somber tone, and that provides a welcome relief through much of the movie.

If you are a Marvel Universe fan, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” should not be missed.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

Black Adam in AMC Dolby

Another installment from DC Comics…5,000 years ago Black Adam was entombed after magical powers were bestowed upon him. Now in modern times Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb ready to unleash his unique form of justice upon the modern world. The story unfolds from there…

No real plot or story… The movie will overwhelm you with a ton of action and special effects that mean absolutely NOTHING… This is not one of Dwayne Johnson’s best movies. Lots of characters and not sure who the foes were. The dialog was also lacking. This was a highly anticipated movie that left me extremely disappointed. Lots of potential that did not payoff.

In fact, I saw “Black Adam” Friday afternoon, but was so disappointed I needed to really think about what I wanted to say before posting a review.

“Black Adam” is not worth the price of admission. See it on Cable or a Streaming Service.

This is a 2 Star Movie!!

Memory

Liam Neeson plays Alex Lewis, an expert assassin who gets caught up in a web of deception when he refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization. The FBI is on his tail as well as members of the organization that he did not deliver for. It’s a game of cat and mouse. The story unfolds from there…

I love Liam Neeson. He possesses a certain set of skills, but unfortunately “Memory” is unmemorable. This is not Liam Neeson’s fault, he did the best he could with what he was given. The story and action are stale and the plot’s not far behind. Is it possible for me to get the time back in my life that I spent watching this?

“Memory” did not open in theaters and now I understand why. It’s available to stream for a fee on Amazon Prime. “Memory” is definitely not one of Liam Neeson’s best movies, but if you are bored with nothing to do, check out “Memory” to see some of Liam Neeson’s certain skills.