Ed's Review Dot Com

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.

Paramount Pictures, Flynn Picture Company, Fremantle Productions,

Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, Jon Bass, Ilfenesh Hadera, Hannibal Buress, Rob Huebel, Pamela Anderson, Belinda, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jack Kesy, Amin Joseph, Charlotte McKinney

Mitch Buchannan (Dwayne Johnson) is the leader of the Baywatch team of lifeguards on the Bay. It’s Spring and time to tryout a bunch of new folks for the Summer, but screw-up double Gold Medal Olympic swimmer Matt Brody has been assigned to perform his public service as a lifeguard on the beach. Immediately he and Mitch are at odds with each other. But the main thing on Mitch’s mind is to solve the crime syndicate that has moved in and is taking over the entire bay. Fighting the local police and the corrupt city officials, Mitch and the team can’t help but trying to figure it all out despite all the messes they make.

Hollywood has had a very hard time trying to turn amazingly popular TV series into a feature film. This is another one that is going to have a tremendous uphill battle trying to gain any traction in the theater, and may end up being mostly a rental flick at that. But that’s because it has really hard competition to fight to gain a shot at some attendance. Let it be said that on Saturday Night here in the Los Angeles area, the theater was full except for a couple seats on the very front row. But Baywatch may be more popular here in it’s original stomping grounds. Nationally it seems to have struggled, but it might pick up as word goes out that it’s not nearly as bad as all of us thought it would be. I admit I assumed this was going to be awful, but surprisingly (at least to me) it wasn’t that bad. It’s childish humor, with it’s raunchy jokes and such, but it had a half way decent story line, good supporting cast, and some really funny situations. It was simply fun to watch. The challenges to win a place on the squad were reminiscent of classic summer movies like Meatballs, and other summer camp movies like that. The mystery was rather bland and easy to predict, but the chase scene was very well done, and a lot of fun. I really had a good time watching this, and for once came out of the theater wish a smile and a clear mind, all problems put away for a little bit. For the sheer entertainment, I would recommend this as a change of pace for all the superhero movies of the summer.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures,

Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Tudyk, Jemaine Clement, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger

Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), is a Polynesian teen who is set to be the leader of her people. But an ancient curse has made it’s way to Moana’s island. Their tribe has never traveled off their island, but Moana is excited to learn that her ancestors traveled all over, and she learns that the curse was caused by a demigod, Maui (Dwayne Johnson) who has disappeared. We watch her on her journey to find Maui and convince him to come back to make the situation right again.

This Disney animated film reminds me of Lilo and Stitch a lot. The story is cute enough, and everyone raves about the music. But I had a few issues with this film. First of all, this movie is too much “Rock”. Some voice actors can create a character voice that is unique and very interesting. Others like Mr. Rock can only play themselves, and throughout the entire performance, there is no doubt that you’re listening to Dwayne Johnson, and that is a huge distraction. The story is also rather plodding, and never really caught my interest fully, so it was hard to watch. I have been waiting and waiting for this film, and I guess my expectations were way too high, and I was let down quite a bit. Not that it’s bad, mind you, but just disappointing. So the kids will enjoy the film, and the music is really good, and the highlight of the film. It’s a quality Disney movie, but just a bit of a let down from their usual quality.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, New Line Cinema,

Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Colton Haynes, Art Parkinson, Archie Panjabi, Ioan Gruffudd, Will Yun Lee, Kylie Minogue, Paul Giamatti

Ray (Dwayne Johnson) is a Rescue Chopper pilot, who risks his life to save people who need saving. But he needs to save himself. He has a soon to be ex-wife, Emma (Carla Gugino) and a daughter headed for college, Blake (Alexandra Daddario). The couple had another daughter who died which is what is causing the divide in the family. Meanwhile a CalTech Seismologist, Lawrence (Paul Giamatti) thinks he’s on to a system to predict earthquakes, when a massive earthquake hits along the San Andreas fault, causing major damage from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and everywhere in-between. Blake is in San Francisco, trapped somewhere, and Ray is flying the chopper across the state trying to reach her to save his remaining daughter.

This is a huge, blockbuster disaster film, and epic CGI filled roller-coaster ride of an adventure. It’s very reminiscent of the original Earthquake movie from the original 1974 Earthquake, Charleton Heston film, in “Sensurround” movie. I can still feel the cinder block in the old cineplex rumbling while waiting in a long, long line for that one. This film is certainly bigger and with more fantastic special effects than the old one, but it’s maybe not as impressive. Still, it’s a very well done movie and will certainly rock the box office. But it’s not absolutely perfect. It has a couple different romance stories in it, and lots of great explosions and destruction, and I guess there’s some suspense, but honestly, all the 2015 computer generated effects kind of make me jaded. We’ve seen everything, so it’s not very meaningful anymore. One of my favorite rants is the loss of wonder once the computers took over and allowed anything to be possible. But you have to use the technology to complete, so that’s why I’m giving this one a 4.5. The Rock is The Rock, and you get what he gives you. He’s not an overwhelmingly amazing actor, but he does well enough. Carla Gugino is pretty good, as usual, but even she goes over the top once in a while. I wasn’t really familiar with Alexandra Daddario, but she was really good as the daughter Blake. I didn’t recognize her, but I don’t think I can forget those blue eyes. I wonder if they used CGI on the close-ups. Stunning eyes! All in all, you gotta watch this movie as it’s too big a film to miss, and I have to recommend it. Whether you want to pay for the 3-D big screen experience, or wait for it on DVD or streaming doesn’t matter. Just make sure you get to see it. The summer is starting out pretty big this year, so I think I’ll be spending a lot of days in the theater this summer!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

24P Media Group, Emmett/Furla Films, Envision Entertainment Corporation,

Liam Hemsworth, Emma Roberts, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Angarano, Nikki Reed, Shenae Grimes, Jerry Ferrara, James Ransone, Chris Diamantopoulos, Gia Mantegna, Michael Rispoli

Chris Potamitis (Liam Hemsworth) wanted to be a policeman. But when he was kicked out of the NYPD academy due to a marijuana incident with his childhood best friend Eddie (Michael Angarano), so Chris takes a job with an armored car company. The main reason he said he had for taking the job was so he could get a pistol to carry around. But as he travels around learning the ropes, he finds that their security is really lax. Discussion the terrible security practices with Eddie leads him into getting roped into an extremely high payoff job robbing his own company. Chased by detective James Ransome (Dwayne Johnson) he tries to wiggle his way out of being caught, but the mob bosses are mad and trying to figure out who pulled off this job in their territory. This sends them off on a wild chase trying to escape from everyone who is after them. This is based on a true story.

This was a somewhat interesting film, but there was just no enough to hold your attention through the whole thing. Basically shortly into the thing, it turns pretty slow and boring and doesn’t recover a whole lot. The best thing this film has going for it is the interview on the “special features” with the real Chris Potamitis who is more interesting than anyone else in this movie. Unfortunately it’s just kind of jumbled up and hard to follow all the time, and just not enough going on to keep your interest. This film was released straight to video, which is always a bad sign. This is one you can skip, unless you’re familiar with the story and want to rent the video to see the special features on how it really happened. Otherwise, not worth the time to catch this one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog