Ed's Review Dot Com

Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures,

Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, Tyne Daly, Martin Starr, Hannibal Buress, Abraham Attah, Kenneth Choi, Selenis Leyva, Angourie Rice, Garcelle Beauvais, Michael Chernus, Michael Mando, Logan Marshall-Green, Jennifer Connelly, Martha Kelly

After all his exciting adventures with the Avengers in the last film, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is back home in high school trying to get along. He’s not the most popular kid in the class, and he’s always sneaking out on Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) who is his legal guardian but has no knowledge of his secret identity. But Peter notices something strange going on when he spots some out of this world weapons keep showing up and a spooky flying monster named Vulture (Michael Keaton) is behind it all. Peter keeps digging even though not only will Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) not believe him, but he tries to stop him from fooling around on his own, so Peter has to try to solve the mystery on his own, although he may not survive the week.

To tell the truth, I am getting really weary of all the Superhero movies this summer. It’s been one after another after another, and I think I’m not the only one who’s getting tired of them from the box office numbers this summer. I didn’t expect much from this film, and I was really expecting to wait until it came out on DVD, but my wife and her sister really wanted to see it, so they took me along. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, and I was somewhat surprised at how interesting it was. I wasn’t blown away, and there are some weaknesses in the story, and Tom Holland just isn’t strong enough to carry the film. Cameos by a few of the Avengers and their backup crew don’t do much to help either. The story is kind of weak, and the acting is kind of weak, and so that takes away from the overall enjoyment. If you’re a real Spidey fan, then you probably like the older films a lot better. If you love the mix-up of Avenger characters in each other’s movies, then you might dig that, but all in all this is just a mediocre movie, and I’ve seen it all before. I would have been happy to wait for DVD for this one.

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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.

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Dentsu, Fuji Television Network, Illumination Entertainment,

Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress, Albert Brooks

Max (Louis C.K.) has a great life. He’s been with his owner since he was a puppy, but when she brings home Duke (Eric Stonestreet) Max is really annoyed. He wants to setup Max to get rid of him, but things get real when Max and Duke both are kidnapped. The rest of the pets in the building ban together to rescue them. They want to rescue them and get get back home before the owners get home in this rollicking animated film full of talking animals! Well, they can talk to each other, but not to the people. But these are some clever pets.

I got to take my Grandson and his Dad and Mom to see this at Downtown Disney while taking a break from catching Pokemon in Pokemon Go. (Yeah, we caught a lot). I really enjoyed this film, although there are a couple little problems with it perhaps. I didn’t see those, and it was only after talking to other people that I realized what they were saying. This is a PG film, not a G rated kids film, and there is a good deal of fighting and angry yelling and stuff. There is a band of gang members who are lead by killer rabbit Snowball (Kevin Hart) and the voices of the gangstas could make you think it’s a bit racist and stereotypical. But aside from that, everything ends nicely and everyone gets along in the end. The best part of this is the intense action sequences which are really fun to watch, the one liners that these characters are always spitting out that made me laugh out loud numerous times. Really! This keeps the grown-ups interested throughout, and the kids will be blown away with the really funny and cute animals representing a plethora of species. All in all, I really enjoyed the story, and was easily about to look past the obvious racial and gang stereotypes and I really enjoyed the movie. I recommend it for all but the youngest children, but I think you ought to watch it with them and be available im case there are questions.

Two final comments: There are some really, really funny animated cameos that are really delightful, and the cartoon at the beginning was worth the price of the movie by itself!

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Gary Sanchez Productions, Good Universe, Paramount Pictures,

Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church, Hannibal Buress

Brad Whittaker (Will Ferrell) is a happily married man, working at a smooth jazz station, and step-dad to his wife’s (Linda Cardellini) kids. But Brad has one concern. Due to a freak dentist accident he cannot have children of his own. When the children’s biological father, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) shows up though, Brad feels threatened. As Dusty tried to weasel his way back into the family, the competition keeps escalating until everyone life is threatened by these two. This Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg family comedy is just what you’d expect from these two.

I must say this is one of the best Ferrell movies I’ve seen in a long time. I found this one really pretty funny. The whole concept is rather clever, and it shows Will at his finest. All 5 of the main characters (Brad, Dusty, Sara, and Thomas Haden Church as Brad’s boss Leo, along with Hannibal Buress as Griff, the handyman who also moves right into the family are classic together. These are a group of wonderful characters that all shine. The two kids are pretty good as well, and all in all it’s a perfect cast for this type of rip-roaring comedy. The jokes and slapstick moments keep on coming from start to end, and the time flew by. This was a very well done little film, and I enjoyed it very much. My wife and her sister had tickets for the LA Lakers – Golden State Warriors game at Staples Center, and, being the designated driver, I got to kill some time watching this film at the Regal Theater at L.A. Live, right underneath the Staples Center. I am really glad I chose this film, as it was a very enjoyable evening. That is a really nice theater, and that added a lot to the experience. Loved it.

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Good Universe, Point Grey Pictures,

Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Carla Gallo, Halston Sage

Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) are a newlywed couple with a daughter. They live in a simple suburban home. The house next door is up for sale, and they take a lot of interest to see who the new neighbors will be, but when the guys from the fraternity move in and turn it into a frat house led by fraternity president Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron), things go from bad to worse to worst. They party all night, with loud music that keep everyone awake. At first Mac and Kelly try to be friendly with the boys and try to party with them to make friends and get their cooperation, but when that fails, they start escalating a war with the frat that spirals WAY out of control.

This is a hilarious comedy reminiscent of the old great comedies of long ago. It’s modern and fresh, and unique twist, but the gags run from slapstick to up to date technology gags that are right out of the pages of today’s college kids. To make it even more enjoyable, I have a bit of a story to tell.

We went up for Mother’s Day to UC Santa Barbara. My daughter had to work for a while, so my wife and I went to the theater closest to the school to watch a movie. The timing was wrong for everything else, but Neighbors was coming on at 8:15, so we chose it. We figured a Seth Rogen film would be a few laughs. The theater ended up packed, every seat full, all 20ish college kids. We were the only old people in the theater. Since I work in the IT field, I am up to date on new technology and so I got the jokes. But the frat jokes in particular, especially with the way things are today with the latest web sites and communication devices was especially funny to the young people because they obviously got all the jokes. I imagined watching this back at home in a theater full of adults with many of the jokes just going over their heads. Not this crowd. It was really interesting to see which gags cracked them up and compare to what it would be like seeing this without the theater filled with students. Anyway, needless to say, unlike the teens we often see at home, with the theater packed, the crowd was very respectful, quiet with no one texting or making phone calls and laughing at the right places. Though we were crowded, it was a really enjoyable experience.

Now back to the film. This is the kind of role that fits Seth Rogen perfectly. He plays the kid who’s grown up now and realizing that he needs to take some responsibility, but dropping back into his youth to party with the frat and play childish pranks trying to outdo each other. New parents have the problem of their close friends from the past living a wild and free single lifestyle when they have a child and a job and too much to do. The frat house next door, though a curse, also is a chance to step back into their younger days. The comedy is really good, the jokes are non-stop, and it’s a randy adult comedy that doesn’t let up. I really enjoyed this film and recommend it for comedy fans everywhere.

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