Archive for Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Warner Bros., Syncopy,

Juhan Ulfsak, Jefferson Hall, Ivo Uukkivi, Andrew Howard, John David Washington, Rich Ceraulo Ko, Jonathan Camp, Wes Chatham, Sander Rebane, Martin Donovan, Clémence Poésy, Robert Pattinson Robert Pattinson

Well, the Russians are trying to start World War III, and a really mysterious agent called “The Protagonist” is recruited by the CIA types to stop them. But this is a world beyond the limits of time, as we know it, so he is able to travel forward and backward through time. Now it’s not as simple as time travel, as if you jump ahead, you will arrive after events happened, but will be moving backwards until you meet the others traveling though time the other way. This is a science fiction, spy, time travel movie that is very well constructed, but very difficult to follow.

I was anxious to see this film after all the hype about this big block buster film, the first “big” one after the pandemic, but it didn’t work for me. I was deeply disappointed by this movie, but it’s hard to put into words why. This is basically because I couldn’t follow it well enough to tell who was who, and who was going in what direction. The team divides up into two groups one going ahead and coming backward, and one going forward, and they look alike and are dressed alike, and when the film is over, all I could say was “That was exciting, but I have no idea what I just watched.” I read that this film did very well in internationally, but when we was it our theater was really empty. I mean there were like 4 of us in the whole theater. Now if you really liked Inception, then you might enjoy this one, as I wasn’t blown away by Inception either, much for the same reasons. There are a bunch of rules for the time issue, and I’m not sure any of it makes any real sense for me, so I tended to find it annoying instead of fascinating. I normally am a big fan of science fiction/time travel films, but this just didn’t cut it for me. I did not really enjoy this film, and I don’t recommend it, unless you really like films which bend the rules and have the really far out scenarios that break your mind. I guess I was more in a mood to be entertained, and this was certainly not that!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA), The H Collective, Troll Court Entertainment,

Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Abraham Clinkscales, Christian Finlayson, Jennifer Holland, Emmie Hunter, Matt Jones, Meredith Hagner

Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) long for a child but are thwarted by fertility problems. Just when it appears that they are never going to have a child of their own, through a strange occurrence late one night the find an alien child and bring him into their home as their own. But Brandon (Jackson A Dunn) is drawn toward a mysterious object in the barn and a strong desire to find out where he came from. It turns out the child is not as gentle and kind as he appears, and he finds he has some special abilities as things turn very bad for the Breyer’s and all they know.

This is a combination horror, science fiction film with the heaver side on the sci-fi side. This is an interesting story, though the resulting motion picture does suffer from some flaws that make it less than stellar. It has a really great setup, but it never seems to pay off at any point. The story is weakly told, and though the actors try hard, there isn’t enough substance here to make it stand out. Jackson Dunn does a really good job as the alien child, and does a decent job, and it is rather suspenseful and creepy, but the level of horror isn’t quite there. But even more so, there just isn’t enough meat to fill out the characters and make us really care about them. This is a nice video to watch after it’s available, and well worth seeing, but there just wasn’t enough there to make it worth the price of admission to the theater to see this, which is probably why it tanked in the box office. I was really looking forward to this This seems like it would be better served as a novel. This little boy could have been Superman, but instead he turns out more like Damien from the Omen. This is a decent movie, but just doesn’t quite stand out. This is a missed opportunity, I fear.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Matt Tolmach Productions, Radar Pictures, Seven Bucks Productions,

Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannavale, Alex Wolff, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Missi Pyle, Rhys Darby, Tim Matheson, Maribeth Monroe, Marc Evan Jackson

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a sequel to the original Jumanji of over 20 years ago. Technology has changed since the original board game that was played by the kids in the original bringing Alan Parrish back from the jungle. In those days it was a board game, but apparently it had been updated at some point over the last 20 years to a video game console. A group of high school kids decided to give the game a try, and all four of them are pulled into the jungle where Alan lived during the time that he was trapped in the game. When they are sucked into the game, hence into the jungle itself, they become their characters that they chose in the original game. Here they are trapped unless they are able to complete the challenge and end the game.

This review was started over a year ago, and never completed. I wanted to say some things about this film, and now that it’s been out for a year or two, I still feel my observations might be of some value, so I decided to finish it. First of all, many folks did not like this film, for one reason or another, but I found it rather interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, the humor was here 100%. It was really funny from time to time. Secondly, some of the action seemed corny or contrived, but this is supposed to be a video game and as such is filled with different levels and scenarios. I felt this was appropriate for the situation. There are also some fun references to the original movie. Many people do not remember, but in the original movie, though Alan was stuck in the jungle for years until someone rolled a “six” or “eight” to free him, we never saw anything of what the jungle was like. The animals and characters from the jungle crossed over to our world, but we never went the other way. This time we get to see the jungle world, and even the place where Alan lived while he was stuck here. During the time Alan lived there he made friends and became somewhat of a hero over there. All in all, I found this to be really fun, and at this late date, if you haven’t seen these movies, I would suggest watching both of them back to back so that you can remember the important parts of the original. If you have seen the first one, but not this one, then I still recommend going back and watching the original again, so it’s all fresh when you watch this sequel. I think both movies are classics and ought to be enjoyed.

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Marvel Studios

Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, T.I., David Dastmalchian, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park

Ant-Man, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a dad most of all. His efforts have been focused on trying to take care of the family duties, but a major critical mission comes up and pulls him back into the superhero business. Along with the Wasp, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily), and Dr. Pym (Michael Douglas) he heads off into the adventure once again to rescue Dr. Pym’s wife who’s trapped in another dimension all the while being chased by the Feds and the bad guys who want the technology Dr. Pym has invented.

The original Ant-Man was a very humorous movie, and this sequel has a lot of the lunacy and downright laugh-out-loud moments like the first one did. Paul Rudd is actually really good in this role. As I’ve said thousands of times, I’ve never been a big fan of superhero movies, but every now and then a really good one captures my attention and takes me along with the ride. This one did. I actually enjoyed this one. The cast is superb and the humor was spot on, so this was a pleasure to watch. I really had a good time, and I can recommend this movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Lionsgate, Grindstone Entertainment Group, Gold Star Films,

J.D. Evermore, Joely Richardson, Bryce Romero, Aiden Flowers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Whitman Groves, Carsen Flowers, Douglas M. Griffin, Dana Gourrier, Abigail Breslin, Jodie Moore, Raeden Greer, Laura Cayouette

A zombie apocalypse has struck the town, and tough father Wade Vogel’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) beloved daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin) has been infected. She realizes the danger she is to her family, so she runs off, but is captured and being held in a quarantine facility. Wade sets out to find her, and is able to persuade the town leaders to allow him to bring her home to care for her, but if she gets worse and becomes a danger to the family, he has to either bring her in to the quarantine center where she’ll be killed, or take care of it himself. But Wade is unable to accept the truth, that Maggie is serious trouble, and spends his time in denial until everything comes to a crashing climax.

This is an unusual science fiction movie that cares more about the characters than the horror. Most zombie films are all about the danger and the gore, and the chase to keep away from the monsters. This film is quite different, as the zombie disease is secondary to the feelings and pain that the family goes through, and that Maggie goes through as she loses herself little by little, but is somehow aware of the tragedy that is falling upon her and her family. It’s very touching and very moving and a very different zombie movie than you’ve ever seen before. Done with a minuscule budget, if not for the backing of Arnold who once he saw the script, knew it was meant for him created sort of a new career for the former Governor of California. As he says in his interview, there is no way he would have ever accepted this role in his younger days when success was measured in the number of kills and the size and quantity of big guns. But he has changed too as he’s matured and has a family or two of his own. He was so touched by the script, that he jumped all in and without his backing this probably could not have been made. As it is, it’s a very touching story with great emotional scenes that make you go through a whole range of emotions. Arnold was good, but so was Abigail who played a very difficult role and nailed it exceptionally. This movie was well worth the time I spent watching it, and though it’s mostly unheard of, it’s well worth looking out for it. Excellent.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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