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Review of “The Man from UNCLE”

If there’s a saying that sums up the thinking of movie executives it must be “Everything old is new again.” So far this year we’ve had reboots or sequels to “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Mad Max,” “Fantastic Four,” “Jurassic Park,” “Ted,” “Magic Mike,” “Terminator,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Entourage,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Despicable Me,” “The Woman in Black,” “Taken,” “Hot Tub Time Machine,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Cinderella,” “Divergent,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” “Avengers,” “Poltergeist” and “Insidious.” And that’s just through the middle of August. The rest of the year has more ranging from another visit to the animated “Hotel Transylvania” as well as a galaxy far, far away for another episode of “Star Wars.” Many of these are or were greatly anticipated while others caused either a collective groan or disinterested shrug. Probably falling into the disinterested category is the big screen interpretation of a 50 year old TV show about Cold War spies from opposite sides of the Iron Curtain that work together to keep the world safe. While I was aware of “The Man from UNCLE” TV show and may have seen an episode or two, I can’t say the idea of a movie version ever crossed my mind. It apparently crossed the minds of movie executives who approached director Guy Ritchie to bring his unique visual style to this reimagining. While it certainly has style and very pretty people playing the roles, “The Man from UNCLE” doesn’t feel at all substantial.

Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) was a notorious thief in Europe until his capture by a task force of elite law enforcement. His prison sentence was suspended in exchange for using his special talents to help the CIA. Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) is a KGB agent with anger issues due in part to his treatment after his father was caught skimming funds from the Communist Party and sent to a gulag. It’s the early 1960’s and the Cold War is at its zenith. Solo is sent into East Berlin to help Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) escape to the West. Her father was a German nuclear scientist helping the Nazis in World War II try to make an atomic bomb. He has developed a way to quickly and easily enrich uranium and has recently disappeared. The CIA thinks Gaby can lead them to her father. In trying to escape, Solo and Gaby are followed by Kuryakin and a chase ensues. Solo and Gaby are able to escape. The next day, Solo’s boss Saunders (Jared Harris) reintroduces Solo and Kuryakin and, along with Illya’s KGB boss, informs the pair that they will be working together to find Gaby’s father as it is in the best interest of both sides that her father’s work not fall into the wrong hands. Gaby’s Uncle Rudi (Sylvester Groth) works for Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra (Luca Calvani and Elizabeth Debicki), the owners of a shipping company in Rome. His late father started the company and was a fascist that supported Mussolini. The company may have ties to Nazi sympathizers. Despite their utter dislike and distrust of one another, Solo and Kuryakin must work together to find Gaby’s father and keep the world safe from Nazis with nukes.

It’s hard not to like “The Man from UNCLE.” From the far flung international locales to the witty banter, the film is designed to be interesting to both the eye and ear. Director Guy Ritchie pulled a few pages from films of the past to embed the notion that this is a 1960’s film that just happens to have 21st century actors in it. The action scenes are tight with little wasted space and the story zips along almost faster than the audience can keep up. It has all the makings of a giant money maker that should launch a franchise. Then why did I feel like I’d just walked through a sprinkler when I intended to jump into the deep end of the pool? I should have been soaked head to toe in nostalgia and international intrigue but instead I feel practically bone dry.

Perhaps the fault lies in setting the story in the early 1960’s: Kennedy is president, the Soviets are perceived to be the biggest threat to freedom and the scourge of Nazism isn’t that far in the rearview mirror. While I certainly remember the old USSR and the fear that the world would fall under totalitarian rule, it isn’t something I look back on with fondness or warm feelings. “The Man from UNCLE” seems to long for the day when our enemies were much easier to identify and target. Moving the story into modern times would have been easy as the U.S. and Russia don’t get along much better now than they did back then. Preventing a terrorist group from getting their hands on a nuclear device would seem to be an easy enough translation from the 1960’s to now since that’s one of the intelligence community’s biggest fears. Drop the Nazis and put in ISIL and you have a modern story that could throw in a few digs at NSA eavesdropping on all our calls and emails. It could have felt more relevant while also being a globetrotting romp.

Maybe it is due to the heroes having only a small amount of trouble in dealing with the bad guys. In the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie, Ethan Hunt gets put through the ringer a couple of times. He actually seems to be in some peril. Neither Napoleon Solo nor Illya Kuryakin is in any real trouble during the course of the story. They do get in a few tight spots but get out practically unscathed. When the heroes of a story appear to be able to cruise through any danger it makes the whole thing seem unimportant.

Despite the setting and lightness of tone, “The Man from UNCLE” still manages to be entertaining. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer make a winning team of likable secret agents that have a begrudging respect for each other. Cavill’s Solo is the more James Bond-like with a command of several languages, a love of fine wines and a winning way with the ladies. A nice counterpart to that is Hammer’s Kuyrakin. The stereotypical ice-cold Soviet agent that has a warm spot buried deep in the Siberia of his soul, Kuryakin has knowledge of fashion as well as a number of ways he can kill someone with his bare hands. Both agents possess skills complimentary to the other. Throwing Alicia Vikander into the mix as the master mechanic Gaby Teller and you have a team that can handle just about any situation that is thrown their way.

Director Guy Ritchie keeps the action moving from scene to scene with very little wasted time. Ritchie’s style is quite recognizable with the occasional odd camera angle, the uniqueness of the soundtrack and the use of quick flashbacks that show what happened in scenes just a few minutes earlier. Ritchie keeps the eye moving along with the story and that helps to keep the momentum at a fast pace.

“The Man from UNCLE” is rated PG-13 for action/violence, some suggestive content and partial nudity. There are several fist fights with one resulting in the death of a character from a stab wound. There is a scene of torture using an electric chair. Several nameless henchmen are shot. One character is shot at point blank range. There is very little blood shown. There are some sexually suggestive sounds heard over a radio. We see a topless woman in silhouette and get a brief glance of side breast. Foul language is widely scattered and mild.

“The Man from UNCLE” is a stylish and witty spy romp that puts to full use the fashion and look of the 1960’s. It is about as substantial as cotton candy and may leave the viewer with a feeling of “that was nice” but that’s about all. Apparently audiences want more than “nice” since it was left in the dust by “Straight Outta Compton” and came in third at the box office behind “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” which is in its third week. I enjoyed the film and think it is worth seeing but I can’t say it’s great.

“The Man from UNCLE” gets four stars out of five.

Three new flicks this week and at least one of them will get a once over by yours truly.

American Ultra—

Hitman: Agent 47—

Sinister 2—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Fantastic Four”

A troubled past doesn’t guarantee failure. Films like “Titanic,” “Jaws” and perhaps most famously “Apocalypse Now” are just a few films that were created in turbulent environments. Whether the trouble was a conflict between the cast and the director, the director and the studio, between cast members or some other configuration, good work still came from what could have potentially been a disaster; however, some productions, like “Alien 3,” “Cop Out” and “Waterworld” are doomed to failure when egos and power struggles get in the way of making an enjoyable bit of entertainment. The latter appears to be what happened to Fox Studios’ “Fantastic Four” reboot.

As a child, Reed Richards (played as an adult by Miles Teller) dreamed of building a matter transporter…and he actually succeeded thanks to parts provided by his friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) from his family’s junk and salvage yard. Reed considers Ben his best friend and good luck charm. Reed is discovered at a high school science fair by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara) and invited to attend is institute of gifted young people in the Baxter Tower in New York City. Ben stays home to work in the family business. Dr. Storm also has a son named Johnny (Michael B. Jordan) who is a brilliant mechanic that prefers to spend his time tinkering with his car and running in illegal street races than in a lab. A crash that totals his car forces him to work for his father in the lab. Dr. Storm is working on an interdimensional transporter and believes Reed can push his research over the edge. The project was started by Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), a brilliant but troubled scientist who has some less than pleasant history with Dr. Storm and they no longer work together. Dr. Storm gets his funding from a shadowy board of directors with ties to the government led by Harvey Elder (Tim Blake Nelson). With Reed on board and Victor back in the fold largely because he loves Sue, the interdimensional transporter is perfected. Elder wants to turn the project over the NASA and the government but Dr. Storm wants to keep the project in house and under his control. After a few rounds of drinks, Reed, Victor and Johnny decide to take the transporter for a test spin on their own and Reed calls Ben because he was there for the earliest experiments in the garage and wants his good luck charm to come along. Ben agrees and they are soon teleported to another dimension. It’s a barren world with storm clouds overhead and pools of glowing green liquid. Victor puts his hand in the fluid and can feel the energy coursing through it; but it also causes a chain reaction that is causing the ground beneath their feet to come apart. Victor is engulfed in green flames and falls down a cliff. The others run to the transporter pod to go home where Sue is trying to initiate the return sequence. Fire engulfs Johnny, Ben is encased in rock, Reed is bathed in unknown energy and Sue is hit with a blast from the other dimension when the pod reappears. Each is endowed with unique powers and abilities.

While far from being a great movie “Fantastic Four” isn’t as bad as the Rotten Tomatoes score of 9% might imply. The introduction to the group, their transformation and dealing with their powers is actually pretty good. You get a good idea of the personality of each main player and the conflict between Victor and Reed gets an understandable foundation. It is the part of the story where the four put their powers to use where the train goes off the rails.

The whole structure of the film feels flimsy and unfinished. The set up to what should be the super showdown is incredibly long when compared to the finale which feels like it plays out in about 10 minutes, if that. What appears to have been planned as a two hour plus film is over in an hour-40. While many comic book movies are too long, “Fantastic Four” isn’t long enough as we are shown huge amounts of history and preparation leading to an ending that is anti-climactic. Granted, I think everyone knows the good guys are always going to win in the end of a superhero movie but it shouldn’t feel like the kind of role-playing game I used to participate in as a child with my friends when, after one of us had been shot with the death ray or whatever the evil scheme entailed, we popped right up, saved the damsel in distress and put the villain in his place.

“Fantastic Four” director Josh Trank made an impressive debut with his first studio film “Chronicle.” The story of three high school kids who gain powers from a mysterious alien artifact was a low-budget, found-footage gem. The story was great, the effects were good and the whole thing worked together for a wonderfully enjoyable time at the movies. That film got him the “Fantastic Four” gig but something happened that turned what should have been a dream into a nightmare. Trank can be heard on the Kevin Smith podcast “Fatman on Batman” giving a thorough history of his early life, how he became a filmmaker and the process of making “Fantastic Four.” It takes, coincidentally, four episodes to tell the whole story. Nowhere in those four episodes, about six hours of content, does Trank complain about the making of “Fantastic Four” or Fox executives; however, on Thursday, August 6, Trank tweeted the following: “A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would’ve received great reviews. You’ll probably never see it. That’s reality though.” Trank quickly deleted the tweet but it was of course screen captured. While vague, this tweet seems to be saying the film was interfered with by Fox executives and turned into something other than his original vision. There is of course another side to the story that suggests Trank may have been in over his head and/or was difficult to work with. The truth lies somewhere in the middle with enough blame to go around for both sides. The product of this middle ground is a movie with an odd structure, average at best special effects, a villain that doesn’t make much sense, has odd motivations for his evil plan and a story that starts out fine then turns into a mess at the conclusion.

“Fantastic Four” is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and language. We see a couple of characters engulfed in flames. One character causes people’s heads to kind of explode. We see a splash of blood on the wall behind them. There is a fight where giant boulders are used as weapons. Foul language is scattered and mild.

Josh Trank’s tweet, the troubled production and the poor box office showing of “Fantastic Four” may put the director in movie jail for a period of time. Movie jail is when filmmakers can’t get a job after what is perceived to be a failure on their part. Trank will likely survive just fine in the wilderness of independent filmmaking where he can be fully in charge of the production with little to no interference. But that leaves us to wonder just what kind of “Fantastic Four” the director had in mind. Will we ever see it? Will there ever be an entertaining version of Marvel’s first super team that isn’t a cartoon? Are Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing just too tough a nut to crack? Should Fox make a deal with Marvel like Sony did with Spider-Man and share the movie rights? Speculating about all this is far more entertaining than watching the movie, as this “Fantastic Four” may actually be worse than the dayglow colored version we got a decade ago.

“Fantastic Four” gets one star out of five.

The music that spoke to one generation and frightened another and a TV to film crossover open in theatres this week. I’ll see and review at least one of these.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.—

Straight Outta Compton—

Follow me on Twitter (I try not to be too controversial) @moviemanstan. Send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”

IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is tracking a worldwide terrorist organization called the Syndicate. He believes they are responsible for political assassinations around the world that all looked like tragic accidents. Each of these acts also led to political upheaval in the countries where they occurred. CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) believes Hunt is creating conspiracies in his mind and wants the IMF defunded and absorbed into his agency and convinces a Senate subcommittee. Agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) now works directly under Director Hunley but still tries to protect and help Hunt where he can. Hunt is captured by the Syndicate; but just before he’s going to be tortured by Janik “Bone Doctor” Vinter (Jens Hulten), Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) helps to kill the guards watching him and set him free. Ilsa appears to be a deep-cover agent working within the Syndicate for another intelligence agency. She stays behind to protect her cover. Hunt contacts Brandt to tell him what he’s discovered and is informed the IMF is no more. Hunt decides to stay in the field despite now being declared a target of the CIA. Hunt covertly contacts electronic intelligence expert Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) to help him track down the leader of the Syndicate: A man he’s only seen once killing an innocent woman. The chase will lead Hunt, Ilsa, Brandt, Dunn and fellow agent Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) around the world in an effort to take down a terrorist group that seems to have eyes, ears and assassins everywhere.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” has the slick and polished look of the most recent “James Bond” movies but has a decidedly lighter tone. While the fate of the world is equally at risk in this film series based on the TV show that ran 1966-1973, the characters are allowed to make a degree of fun of the situation that Bond is rarely allowed. While Bond is a lone figure with minimal support from his agency, Ethan Hunt is part of a larger and much more active ensemble. Hunt is frequently saved by one of his fellow agents, either directly or remotely, setting this view of espionage apart from its British counterpart. Each approach has its merits and the M:I series gets a bit more narrative mileage from the comradery of its characters.

Much has been made from the well-publicized stunt of strapping Tom Cruise to the side of a plane and filming him as it took off. The advertising for the film certainly didn’t bury the lead as this is the first scene in the movie. While it is probably the biggest stunt in the film, there are plenty more that occupy a great deal of the film’s over two hour running time. Whether sliding down a rope from the roof of the Vienna Opera House or holding his breath for six minutes to film an underwater scene in one take, Cruise delivers big thrills at great personal risk to himself and his multimillion dollar paychecks.

Whether the acting is any good is kind of beside the point in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” but it is good. The entire cast is spot on with particular praise for Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. Without giving too much away, her loyalties are always in doubt as she never plays her role with too many clues as to which way she might go. She also looks good in a silky yellow dress as she prepares to carry out an assassination. Ferguson is also adept at physical stunts, performing more than a few wild and vicious moves.

Simon Pegg is always reliable for some lighter moments as tech genius Benji Dunn; but these lighter moments are actually a set up for some dark times near the end of the film. Audiences don’t like seeing the smart, friendly characters face mortal danger. It gives us even more stress than when we watch the characters that we expect to be at the edge of death. We have learned Ethan Hunt can extract himself from every situation; but Benji is far more adept at hacking a security system, not beating up a security guard. After all, his name is Benji…like the dog.

Alec Baldwin also provides a secondary heavy that is almost as detestable as the leader of the Syndicate. Baldwin’s CIA Director Hunley shares many attributes with Baldwin’s “30 Rock” character Jack Donaghy: Both are decisive, ruthless and like to talk in a low growl when they are making a point. Baldwin doesn’t have that much screen time but he uses it to full effect. Hunley is portrayed as a bit of blowhard that talks a good game but has trouble delivering what he promises. Baldwin tackles the role with an intensity that says Hunley might be a bit of a braggart but he means business. It’s a very good performance.

If there’s anything I can complain about in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” it’s the omnipotent villain trope that has played a part in nearly all this series. The Syndicate seems to be everywhere and always prepared no matter what Hunt or his colleagues do. The story elements seem to require someone on the inside of the CIA and IMF in order to be as well informed as they appear. I guess this would be a spoiler so prepare yourself: No one is exposed as working with the bad guys. A couple of red herrings are dropped here and there but none of them ever converts into a double agent. The leader of the Syndicate is supposed to be the product of a friendly government’s intelligence agency that goes rogue and creates his own organization to commit chaos around the world. It would seem that he is far better trained than any of the people trying to stop him as his presence is unknown to every other spy agency in the world. It’s all a bit too neat and tidy to occur in a world where every email, phone call and Internet search is collected by one organization or another for analysis. I would hope someone sifting through all that metadata would notice something that would tip off the CIA. I suppose this is yet another example of me thinking too much about a movie plot but it always strikes me as odd when a bad guy can gather so much material and so many operatives and fly completely under the radar.

All in all, this is a minor complaint as everything that is good about “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” far outweighs the bad. From the cinematography to the action to the interplay between the characters to most of the story, the film is a huge love letter to fans of the series.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is rated PG-13 for sequences of action & violence and brief partial nudity. There are several fist fights, a knife fight, car chases, car wrecks, motorcycle chases, motorcycle wrecks and shootings in the film. There is far more blood in the trailer for the new “Hitman” film than there is in this entire movie. The brief partial nudity is so brief and partial I’m surprised it was mentioned. It is the back of a woman as she takes off some wet clothes and puts on dry clothes. Foul language is brief and scattered.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” opened at number one at the box office but with the lowest opening of any of the previous four films. Some news stories attribute this to the bad publicity Cruise received from the HBO documentary on Scientology. That seems unlikely. Perhaps the public is just tired of big budget, big action flicks; especially the fifth in a series. Aside from strapping Cruise to the side of a plane (that everyone with an Internet connection could see as many times as they wanted), what was really different about this version of M:I? The answer is nothing. This is a really well done version of the thing we’ve seen four times before. If people decide not to go should we really be that surprised?

The film is doing well worldwide so we can expect a sixth M:I to be released in two or three years as Cruise has already agreed to star in it. If the studio and Cruise don’t mind a little free and unwanted advice, may I suggest you figure out some twist or variation on the spy genre that will surprise people and drive them to tell their friends about what a unique experience the next M:I is. Otherwise, even the rest of the world may start staying home.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” gets five stars.

Two new films open this week and I’ll see at least one of them.

Fantastic Four—

The Gift—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Mr. Holmes”

Having been out of the consulting detective business for 30 years, a 93-year old Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) fills his days at a home in the English countryside tending his beehives. His mental faculties are beginning to leave him and he is desperate to find a way to reverse his decline. A letter from a Japanese fan of his book on royal jelly begins a correspondence between Holmes and Tamiki Umezaki (Hiroyuki Sanada). Umezaki tells Holmes about a plant in Japan that is supposed to possess restorative powers for the mind and circulation, leading the detective to travel to the land of the rising sun. After returning from that trip with a sample of the prickly ash plant, Holmes begins using a concoction made from it to aid his memory. Holmes, who was never pleased with his depiction in Dr. Watson’s writings, is desperate to remember the details of his final case so he may set the record straight. Holmes housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her son Roger (Milo Parker), live with him. Mrs. Munro is a simple, hardworking woman that doesn’t have much need or time for hobbies. Roger is filled with curiosity and, when he’s done with his chores, enjoys spending time with Holmes, learning about the bees and helping him when he can. Holmes, who can be impatient, enjoys spending time with and answering questions from Roger. Holmes gives Roger pages from the story of his last case as Holmes finishes them; but he’s having more and more trouble recalling the details. Holmes knows there’s something about the case that drove him into retirement and longs to discover what he did wrong. He has fond memories of the subject of his investigation, Mrs. Ann Kelmot (Hattie Morahan), but also feels sadness and regret. Holmes is anxious to remember all he can of the case before his mind is completely gone and his time on Earth is over.

Don’t confuse “Mr. Holmes” with the Robert Downey, Jr. portrayal of the consulting detective as they are different as night and day. Where Downey’s Sherlock is quick repartee and action, Sir Ian McKellen’s Holmes is quiet, reserved and more than a bit sad. This Sherlock Holmes is reflective and knows his days are dwindling down to a precious few. At times, Holmes is pitiful and lost in the wilderness of dementia; however, there are moments when the old Sherlock manages to break through and impress those around him with his powers of deduction.

Jumping back and forth in time and from Japan to England, “Mr. Holmes” is a low-key affair that is more about loss, regret and longing than detection. That’s fine as Ian McKellen is brilliant as Sherlock and Milo Parker makes Roger more than just a precocious brat. Their time on screen together is often both magic and melancholy. Holmes sees something of his younger self in Roger: A boy longing to be more than just the product of his surroundings yearning for knowledge and adventure. Holmes also sees the dark side of that desire when Roger lashes out at his mother when she announces she’s accepted a job at a hotel requiring them to move to a different part of the country. Holmes has spent most of his life alone or at least feeling alone and sees a chance that Roger may be headed down this same solitary road. His reaction to Roger’s outburst may be seen as decidedly un-Holmsian but it shows the character as something other than the calculating automaton as he’s frequently portrayed in the books.

McKellen also performs the role of an elderly individual on the verge of their final decline with unusual accuracy and poignancy. Sadly, I have seen what the ravages of time and illness can do with my own father. His decline was at times slow and hardly noticeable and then he seemed to wither and deteriorate right before my eyes. McKellen, who is 76, is himself looking into the last of his days. While he is still vibrant and active he also has the presence of mind to know he has fewer days in front of him than behind. This obviously informed his performance in the scenes where Holmes is his most decrepit. Sherlock Holmes is a superhero of the mind and his arch nemesis is time. A far more dangerous villain than Moriarity and one he can’t outthink no matter how hard he tries. Seeing Holmes at his most vulnerable is heartbreaking on various levels.

As much as I enjoyed “Mr. Holmes” and Sir Ian McKellen’s performance, I had one problem with the movie. As the story winds down an event occurs involving Roger. I won’t give any more detail than that as to not spoil it for those that wish to see the film; however, I will say it feels more than a little manipulative. We already have warm feelings for Holmes, Roger and even Mrs. Munro who is portrayed as militantly ignorant and wants Roger to be that way as well. We learn she feels this way out of fear (again, I won’t spoil it more than that) but the audience views her as cold and mean towards both Roger and Holmes. Things have warmed up a bit in their relationship when this event occurs causing a great deal of fear and anger along with the possible destruction of something Holmes loves like family. It’s all very melodramatic and heart wrenching and seems completely unnecessary. The movie is based on a book called “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin. I’m unsure of how closely the movie follows the book but this final bit of drama feels tacked on for cinematic purposes. Maybe the translation from the page to the screen amplified the emotion or the necessary truncation of events in a book being adapted to a script left out other similarly earthshattering happenings. Whatever the case, it seems out of proportion with the rest of the movie.

“Mr. Holmes” is rated PG for thematic elements, some disturbing images and incidental smoking. We see some survivors of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima with severely scarred faces. Depression and suicide are featured in parts of the story. People are shown smoking in a movie theatre and in a few other locations. Foul language isn’t an issue.

Ian McKellen would have made a fantastic Sherlock Holmes in his younger years. His subtly expressive face and biting sarcasm could possibly have been the defining portrayal of Holmes for the 20th and 21st centuries. While he’s burned into the collective consciousness as Gandalf and Magneto, McKellen’s distinctive features should have been equally as recognizable as the occupant of 221B Baker Street. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see his performance in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” or “A Study in Scarlet.” Fortunately, we do get to see him in the title role of “Mr. Holmes” and that is special and memorable in its own way. While I hold no sway in such things, I believe Sir Ian McKellen deserves a nod for Best Actor when the Oscars roll around again.

“Mr. Holmes” gets five stars.

A couple of films continue their franchises this week. I’ll see and review at least one of them.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation—

Vacation—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “The Gallows”

In 1993, a group of students at Beatrice High School put on a play called The Gallows. One of the actors named Charlie Grimille (Jesse Cross) that was playing the lead character Augustus died during the performance when a simulated hanging failed. His parents were videotaping the show and captured the accident. Twenty years later, the students of Beatrice High are putting the play on again despite some initial resistance from the school board. Portraying the role of Augustus is Reese Houser (Reese Mishler), a former football player who quit the team to star in the play. He secret harbors a crush on his lead actress Pfeifer Ross (Pfeifer Brown) but has yet to express his feelings to her. Reese’s friend Ryan (Ryan Shoos) is recording the play from the control booth but considers all this drama stuff to be silly and spends a great deal of his time ridiculing the cast and crew. Reese isn’t a very good actor and Ryan suggests to him they go back to the school late at night and destroy the set so the play is cancelled. Ryan thinks this will give Reese a chance to console Pfeifer and possibly spark their romance. Reese, Ryan and Ryan’s girlfriend Cassidy (Cassidy Gifford) head to the school and enter through a stage door that Ryan discovered doesn’t lock. Once inside they begin destroying and dismantling the set. A noise alerts them to the presence of Pfeifer who noticed Reese’s car in the school parking lot. Reese lies and says they were there to rehearse. Returning to the stage, the four find all their damage has been undone. The door with the broken lock is now locked and strange noises seem to be emanating from the darkened school. Their cellphones have no service and no lights work in any part of the school except for the red stage lights. While looking for an exit they stumble into a service room that has an old TV and VCR showing a news report of Charlie’s death. When it ends, they discover there is no videotape in the player. Reese notices something in the report and runs to the main entry hall where a display contains a photo of the original 1993 cast. Reese studies the photo and is stunned to see his father was part of that cast. He was originally supposed to play Augustus but pulled out just before the first performance. His understudy, Charlie, was supposed to play the hooded hangman but ended up filling in and died as a result. Is Charlie’s ghost haunting the performance with revenge in mind?

The answer is “of course” and the real question is if “The Gallows” manages to create a villainous ghost that manages to scare audiences enough to make it worthwhile. The answer there is “no,” from me anyway. “The Gallows” is a cheaply produced, badly acted and poorly written found-footage horror film that lacks any consistent tension and has very few real scares. It isn’t good enough to seriously recommend and isn’t bad enough to watch ironically. It’s just not worth your time.

“The Gallows” features a completely no-name cast. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing but this cast features mostly annoying players. Ryan Shoos, whose character name is Ryan Shoos, plays the grating friend of Reese, the film’s lead character. I wanted him to die from the first moments he began providing his cameraman’s narration. Ryan (the character, not the actor) is the smartass that is far too cool for the company he keeps. He doesn’t mind putting the drama nerds in their place and becomes physically violent when they stand up for themselves. The character has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and his demise takes far too long in a movie that feels lengthier than its listed 80-minute running time.

Reese Mishler’s Reese Houser is about the only character that appears to have some sense of decency. While his only motive for doing the play is to get close to his love interest, Reese also feels an obligation to follow through with his role despite stage fright and a lack of any acting talent. While he goes along with Ryan’s plan the character seems to do so with at least a small amount of guilt.

Cassidy Gifford’s Cassidy Spilker (yup, that’s the character’s name) is your stereotypical movie hot cheerleader type that is a bad girl through and through. She, like Ryan, also thinks the whole drama requirement for graduation is lame and eagerly joins in the planned carnage of the set. The character isn’t much more than eye candy as she is made a sexual object by Ryan and wears fairly revealing clothes. Cassidy is mainly on screen to either look at in lust or to watch be attacked by the ghost.

Pfeifer Brown plays Pfeifer Ross (gotta love these imaginative character names) like a starlet in the making. She is the queen of the drama class and knows it. While she may actually have some talent within the movie’s reality, she takes it all far too seriously and is an annoying character. All in all, the movie focuses on four people and three of them are often painful to watch.

The found-footage format is a deal breaker for many horror fans. I personally like the style if it makes sense. For “The Gallows” it doesn’t. Of course there are several shots that would never be naturally created with either a camcorder or a cell phone. Visuals from both are used to tell the story of “The Gallows.” Sometimes we see events from one source then see what was going on at another source at the same time. It fills in some details missing from the other video. That’s a nice touch that’s often missing from other similarly shot movies. Sadly, there are frequent scenes where the perfectly centered character would likely not be so well framed just as something horrible happened to them. Since the phones featured in the movie appear to be iPhones, the shots where the phone is roughly set down on a surface but still manages to be pointed at the action seems a bit farcical. Even in a protective case, it takes some effort to make sure the device remains upright and doesn’t fall on its face or back. If this was true found footage, the audience would see many close-ups of palms and fingers or still shots of ceilings.

This is one of those times where I think too logically about a plot point but this next bit really stuck out to me: In the 21st century the idea there’s a high school anywhere in America that doesn’t have a burglar alarm is ludicrous. These characters run through the halls of their school, screaming and calling for help and trying to get in every door and not one alarm goes off. I went to high school in the 1970’s and my school had motion and audio sensor alarms. I actually set them off one night when I went to the room of a teacher, with his permission, to get some scripts for a play we were doing. Yes, it was a drama class. The police showed up but since I was with a teacher and several other students there weren’t any charges filed. This was in 1979. Seeing these characters running around a modern high school and not getting stopped at gunpoint by the police felt completely unrealistic and was stuck in my brain for the whole movie. I know it’s a ghost story and, if it had been a better movie, I would have been completely willing to let the supernatural aspect of the film go by with no question; but this may be my biggest issue with “The Gallows” aside from the bad acting and the minimal scares.

“The Gallows” is rated R for terror and disturbing violent content. OK, if the MPAA says so. There are a few jump scares, a couple of which have nothing to do with the ghost. We see a couple of people jerked up via a noose by their necks into the ceiling of the building. One character has bruises on the neck that get progressively worse as the story goes along. We get a look at a couple of dead people hanging in the rafters. We see the hanging of two people on the stage. Foul language is scattered.

According to its Wikipedia page, “The Gallows” was made for about $100,000.00 and it looks it. There is very little in the way of special effects and since most of it was shot in darkened rooms set decoration could be kept at a minimum. As of Saturday, July 11, 2015, the movie has made over $4-million and is predicted to have a $10-million opening weekend. While it will open well behind films like “Minions” and the seemingly unstoppable “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out,” it has more than made back its money and could become one of those low-budget horror franchises like “Paranormal Activity” and “Saw.” To me, more “The Gallows” films would be a true horror unless the story and acting is improved and the scares are amped up. To be honest, I’m more than a little angry to have given this junk my money.

“The Gallows” gets two very unimpressed stars out of five.

I’m on vacation so there may not be a review posted this week but find below the trailers for the movies coming out over the next couple of weekends.

Ant-Man—opens 7/17.

Trainwreck—opens 7/17.

Paper Towns—opens 7/24.

Pixels—opens 7/24.

Southpaw—opens 7/24.

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan. Send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Reviews of “Magic Mike XXL” and “Terminator: Genisys”

Summer is the season of school being out, vacations, spending time at the pool or lake or ocean or whatever body of water you might be near and braindead movies meant to pass a few hours between warm weather activities. Few films this season will probably be as braindead as “Magic Mike XXL” and “Terminator: Genisys.” I saw them both and could feel the death of grey matter as they both progressed. One was responsible for more synapse-cide than the other.

Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) has left the male stripper life behind and is now building and selling custom furniture. He gets a call from former fellow stripper Tarzan (Kevin Nash) telling him their old boss and MC Dallas (played in the first film by Matthew McConaughey but only mentioned in this film) has died. Mike travels to a motel where a wake is supposed to be held but finds Tarzan and the rest of his old crew of Ken (Matt Bomer), Richie (Joe Manganiello), Tito (Adam Rodriguez) and Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias) partying around the pool. Tarzan admits he lied and Dallas isn’t dead but left them on their own to go start another club overseas. The gang is headed up the coast to Myrtle Beach for the annual stripper convention for one last ride before they all hang up their G-strings and try for some kind of normal lives. They ask Mike if he wants to go but he says no as he has a life, business and responsibilities there. That night, he hears a song he used to dance to and does an impromptu routine in his work space. The next day, he meets with the guys and agrees to go on one last ride. An accident disables their ride and puts Tobias in the hospital with a head injury, standing them until their converted food truck van is repaired. Mike decides to approach his old boss Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith) who runs a private club for women in a house where male strippers are scattered around performing shows. While unable to convince Rome to be their fill-in MC, she does give them access to a car and has Andre (Donald Glover), one of her performers, give them a ride. Things are looking bleak as the troop heads to their last convention with no MC and not much of a plan.

“Magic Mike XXL” looks like a movie that didn’t have a completed script when it went into production. The story is very fragmented and jumps around like a child playing hopscotch. The only cohesive section of the film is the road trip until Tobias gets hurt; then, the section with every fortuitous turn imaginable begins. People who won’t help suddenly appear to do exactly what the boys need. There’s no slot during the convention for them to perform but that suddenly opens up. All their plans, thrown together in what appears to be a matter of hours story-wise, work out perfectly leading to a triumphant conclusion. It appears the only thing you need to live a charmed life is washboard abs and bulging pecs. Anything resembling everyday life is left behind once Mike decides to rejoin his buddies in Stipper-ville. “Magic Mike XXL” is a silly fantasy about shallow people living lives filled with as much instant gratification and recreational drugs as they can find. Of course, we discover they are all much deeper than we suspect and all they really want is just an average life with someone to love…except the New Age healer/actor/singer who realizes his dreams of stardom are likely never to be fulfilled but tells Mike, “I’m still pretty.” There were times in this film that I wanted to smack ever character on screen for being so petty.

About the only saving grace of the film is a scene involving Andie MacDowell as a divorced, modern southern belle hosting some friends at her home when Mike and the guys show up. It turns into a session of discovery and revelation that, while ridiculous, was interesting to watch. It seems like the only scene in the film that actually had a little thought applied to it. It also is one of those aforementioned fortuitous turns helping the boys get to Myrtle Beach. The film is also saved (somewhat) by the charisma of Channing Tatum. Tatum plays characters in most of his films that seem like decent people. Tatum comes off in interviews like an average guy that just happens to make movies. It’s his appeal as an everyman that keeps “Magic Mike XXL” from being an insufferable experience.

“Magic Mike XXL” is rated R for strong sexual content, pervasive language, some nudity and drug use. Most of the dance scenes involve simulated sex acts. The only nudity I remember is Joe Manganiello’s bare backside early in the film. There are also some exposed cheeks when the boys are wearing their stripper gear. The guys are shown smoking weed and taking capsules that are referred to as Molly. Foul language is common.

While this film certainly isn’t aimed at me, “Magic Mike XXL” still manages a few laughs with the antics of the male strippers and a cameo by Michael Strahan as one of Rome’s dancers. While the humor and the charisma of Channing Tatum provide some bright spots, “Magic Mike XXL” feels like it was made from an unfinished script that left me feeling at times confused and then finally uninterested.

“Magic Mike XXL” gets a fully clothed three stars out of five.

John Connor (Jason Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) along with the rest of their troops are on the verge of destroying Skynet and ending the extinction of the human race. One team is hitting a facility where Skynet is based by Connor and Reese lead a team against a facility that contains the time machine used to send Terminators to the past. Skynet is disabled and all the robots shut down; but the time machine has been used to send a T-800 model back to kill Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). Kyle Reese volunteers to go back and protect Sarah. John knows if he doesn’t he’ll never be born. Kyle begins the process of time travel but sees John being attacked by someone in the crowd. Kyle shows up in 1984 and is almost instantly attacked by a liquid metal T-1000 model (Lee Byung-hun). Hiding in a clothing store, Kyle is saved by Sarah Connor driving an armored truck. In the back is an aged looking T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Kyle tries to shoot him but the old T-800 knocks him unconscious. When he wakes, Sarah tells Kyle that the Terminator she calls “Pops” has raised her since she was nine. He’s there to protect her. Kyle is suspicious and doesn’t trust Pops. Things have changed from the history Kyle was told by John. Kyle also has memories of being a child and telling himself that Genisys is Skynet. Nothing is making sense.

I don’t want to give away any more than that brief synopsis as I often get yelled at for telling too much. Besides, the whole story of “Terminator: Genisys” is far more complicated as time is twisted into knots and histories and futures are as fluid as water. Nothing you know about the “Terminator” universe stays completely unchanged from film to film so this shouldn’t be a big surprise. That the timeline can be manipulated and changed was one of the most appealing aspects of the film. It also means there can be endless sequels since the past can be manipulated like soft clay and molded into whatever the next writer wants.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the star of the film even though his is more of a supporting character. Pops is given the job of putting the science of the film into words. It seems like a risky idea considering Schwarzenegger’s thick accent. Still, he manages to deliver explanations for the various timelines that at least sound like they have a scientific basis. Schwarzenegger also provides much of the film’s humor. His scary dead-eyed smile is usually delivered at the perfectly inappropriate time and his lack of emotion and understanding of emotional expressions means lines that aren’t funny take on a humorous context.

Most of the film’s action is created through CGI. While many scenes look pretty good, including the film’s climax, some look bland, particularly a helicopter chase amongst the skyscrapers of San Francisco. There are shots that look flat and unfinished like the nighttime setting would hide the flaws. It doesn’t. This is a brief scene compared to others but it stuck out. One highlight of the CGI is the fight between old and young Schwarzenegger. An Australian bodybuilder with matching physical measurements to 1984 Arnold was used as a body double then had Schwarzenegger’s young face digitally stitched to his head. It works surprisingly well and looks almost completely natural. Oddly enough, the digital Arnold face actually has a brief flash of too much emotion.

I believe the studio made a tactical error in releasing a major plot twist in one of the film’s trailers. It caused a bit of a stink on the Internet but I didn’t think that much of it at the time. Having now seen the film it was a much larger mistake than I originally thought. This kind of surprise (which I won’t tell if you don’t already know) is the kind of major story event that can raise the audience excitement for a film and give it enormous word-of-mouth buzz. Since it was revealed in the trailer, the reveal is ho hum. According to press reports, director Alan Taylor didn’t know about the spoiler being in the trailer and is quoted as saying he wouldn’t have revealed it before the film came out. Since the film is underperforming at the box office in its opening days, this may actually be costing the studio some money. It also doesn’t help that “Inside Out” and “Jurassic World” are still performing strongly this late in their runs; but people talking about that surprise might have driven a few more patrons the film’s way. The trailer reveal seems at best short sighted and at worst incompetent.

“Terminator: Genisys” is rated PG-13 for gunplay throughout, brief strong language, intense sci-fi violence and partial nudity. Guns of various types are fired throughout the film, most frequently at non-human characters. Those humans that are shot show very little blood. The fights between the various types of Terminators involve lots of bodies getting thrown around and through walls and ceilings. The flesh gets beaten, burned and ripped off the T-800 models in various ways. The nudity consists of those people who travel in time as they must do so naked. The most we see is bare male backsides. Foul language is intermittent.

If you don’t think too hard about the twisty timelines (or know anything about actual physics and the improbability of time travel), “Terminator: Genisys” is a fun action flick with plenty of nostalgia for those of us old enough to have seen the first film in the series. Seeing Arnold in his various forms saying his most famous “Terminator” lines in completely different contexts brings a smile to those of us who have aged along with the T-800. Resetting the timeline also opens the door for more films with two already planned and getting 2017 and 2018 release dates. It would appear Arnold is telling us, “I’ll be back.”

“Terminator: Genisys” gets five stars.

Horror, sci-fi, a sex romp and little yellow helpers are all on tap at theatres this week. I’ll see and review at least one of the following.

The Gallows—

Minions—

The Overnight—

Self/Less—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Ted 2”

As a child I played with G.I. Joe and other dolls for boys that are now called action figures. I’d sit in the floor for hours and create my own stories in my head. To me Joe and the others were alive and were my sons. We’d fight crime together, solve mysteries, explore alien worlds and protect the Earth from invading robots. They were the playmates that weren’t available as there weren’t many children my age nearby. My dad didn’t really like the idea of his youngest son playing with dolls. While he never said anything directly to me, my mother told me of his displeasure. I tried to keep my adventures with my sons as low key and quiet as possible but one time I said “Dad” out loud acting as the voice of one of my imaginary boys and my father responded, asking what I wanted. I felt the flash of heat in my face as I had to explain I wasn’t talking to him and saw the combined look of realization and mild disgust as he understood what happened. Despite this, I continued to play with my dolls and treat them like people for some time after. It took imagination to believe pieces of plastic were alive. In “Ted 2,” it takes expert CGI and the voice acting talents of Seth MacFarlane to create a living teddy bear…again. Does this return visit to Boston rely on the same jokes and premise as last time? To a point, yes.

Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth) are recently married. John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is now divorced from his wife and hasn’t reentered the dating scene for fear of wasting more of his life on another doomed relationship. Ted and Tami-Lynn soon begin fighting over her buying clothes and his buying drugs. Their marriage may be over after just six months. A coworker at the grocery store suggests they have a baby to help strengthen their marriage. Ted suggests it and Tami-Lynn agrees. Since Ted lacks sex organs he decides for artificial insemination. After efforts to procure both Sam Jones and Tom Brady (playing themselves) as donors, John offers and Ted accepts. Sadly, Tami-Lynn is unable to conceive due to damage caused by years of drug abuse so they head to an adoption agency. After making some phone calls, the adoption agent informs them they won’t be able to get a child because, in the eyes of the state, Ted is property. The inquiries from the adoption agency set in motion the wheels of government and soon Ted is stripped of his job, his bank accounts and all his rights. John and Ted approach a law firm and are sent to a junior associate who will take the case for free. Samantha Jackson (Amanda Seyfried) is untested and new but has an enthusiasm for the case plus she loves to smoke weed. Taking the case to court generates publicity that attracts the attention of Donny (Giovanni Rabisi), Ted’s obsessed fan that now works as a janitor at Hasbro, the original maker of that model of teddy bear. Donny urges the Hasbro CEO Tom Jessup (John Carroll Lynch) to do everything in his power to make sure Ted is declared property, making the legal ramifications of abducting him minimal. Donny believes if they cut Ted open they can figure out what makes him alive then duplicate it to make millions of Ted copies. All Donny wants is a Ted of his very own to love and he doesn’t care of the original has to die to get it.

“Ted 2” doesn’t break any new ground and relies on the familiar mix of sex/drug humor and pop culture references that the first film and most of Seth MacFarlane’s comedy is rooted in. This could be looked at in two way: Either it’s lazy film making or, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I tend to lean toward the latter.

The combo of MacFarlane’s voice acting, Ted’s adorable design and Mark Wahlberg’s lovable lunkhead John make for a winning mix of personality and charm. Even when they are behaving like drunken teenagers (which is most of the time) the Thunder Buddies never come off as grating or tedious. While this certainly isn’t the most complicated character Wahlberg has ever played, he manages to give the character a sweetness and innocence that probably comes from spending most of his free time with a living teddy bear. Who wouldn’t be something of a softie if your favorite childhood toy came to life and lived with you well into adulthood? Wahlberg also manages to give the role some mild emotional depth as he deals with the end of his marriage. While obviously a plot device to add the character of Samantha Jackson and give John a love interest, Wahlberg manages to convey a fair amount of pain and loneliness due to this turn of events. Amanda Seyfried displays her comedy chops in the role of the young attorney. Seyfried doesn’t mind getting down and dirty with the boys and holds her own. She also gets to display her singing voice with an original tune written by MacFarlane. It isn’t the big showy kind of song she sang in “Les Miserables” but it manages to move her and Wahlberg’s characters towards the inevitable romantic moment her presence calls for. The rest of the cast, including cameos by Liam Neeson and Jay Leno, delivers well-timed comic bombs that more often than not hit their targets.

The true test of “Ted 2” is if it’s funny and it is. MacFarlane’s TV cartoon shows are well known for the cutaway jokes that have nothing to do with the story and they also make up a part of the movie. Pop culture references also fill a big chunk of “Ted 2’s” nearly two hour running time. Sports, music and the ever growing geek culture of comic conventions are all fodder for MacFarlane’s signature humor. The script is densely packed with jokes and the majority of them work. There are a few clunkers along the way but given how many times the script tries to make the audience laugh it’s forgivable if a few of them fall short.

One issue I have with the film is similar to my complaint about the first film and that is the subplot involving Giovanni Rabisi’s obsessed fan. His character and everything surrounding it sticks out like a sore thumb. It simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the world created by MacFarlane and company. Rabisi’s Donny is a combination of damaged child and psychopath. His darkness and naiveté is about as appealing as a sprig of broccoli in the middle of a banana split. The story already has an antagonist in the form of the state trying to make Ted a thing. The addition of a mentally disturbed stalker feels like padding to lengthen out the story and it isn’t necessary. I didn’t like it before and time hasn’t softened that opinion.

“Ted 2” is rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, and some drug use. A couple of sex acts are talked about and briefly described. We also get a look at a cosplaying woman who, when her shirt is ripped off, exposes her three breasts like in “Total Recall.” Ted, John and Samantha are shown several times using a bong to smoke weed. On a couple of occasions the bong is in the shape of a penis. Foul language is common.

Seeing for the second time a walking, talking teddy bear that loves to drink, smoke weed and have some kind of non-traditional sex with women still creates in my mind a sense of wonder but not as much as the first time. “Ted 2” once again leans heavily on the shock value of a teddy bear doing all the things teddy bears aren’t known for and using the kind of language that would get the mouths of most teddy bear owners washed out with soap. The notion of an inanimate object coming to life is almost as old as storytelling itself: From the golem of Jewish folklore to Pinocchio to Chucky the murderous doll, objects coming to life due to magical circumstances is certainly not a new concept and there isn’t much new in “Ted 2.” While that might be a strike against most movies, here it provides more a feeling of comfort and welcome familiarity. It also doesn’t hurt that most of the jokes work. My one suggestion for “Ted 3” (should it happen) is to leave out the Donny character as it simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the world. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a villain, just not Donny. Otherwise, “Ted 2” provides more than enough laughs to overcome the feeling of sameness.

“Ted 2” gets five fully stuffed stars.

This week America celebrates its independence with movies about male strippers, the beginning of the end of humanity and three outcast teens, one of whom is dying. Light up a sparkler (outside of the theatre) while I go see and review at least one of these flicks.

Magic Mike XXL—

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl—

Terminator: Genisys—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Inside Out”

Growing up is never easy even if your parents don’t move you across the country far from everything and everyone you’ve ever known. My folks lived in the same house for 50 or so years. The year after I got married my wife and I moved to a small town in the Florida Panhandle. It was a less than pleasant experience for the three years we were there but we look back on it with a fondness that comes with hindsight and maturity as we realize everything we experienced there helped make us the people we are today. Your whole life is like that from, to paraphrase from literature, the best of times and the worst of times, you learn how to deal with both success and failure. It’s the pain that makes us appreciate the good times. Learning that lesson seems a bit unfair when you are young as we all want just the positive and feel the negative is something to be avoided. I don’t go looking for failure so I can appreciate success that much more but it usually finds me whether I like it or not. In the latest from Disney/Pixar, “Inside Out,” a young girl learns some valuable lessons and the parts of her personality that color her memories learn even more.

Riley (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias) is your average 11 year old girl. She loves her parents, loves to play hockey with her friends and loves her life in Minnesota. That all changes when her mom and dad (voiced by Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) move the family across the country to San Francisco for a business opportunity, forcing Riley to leave her friends and everything she’s ever known behind. The move throws Riley’s emotions into turmoil but they try to make the best of it. Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) is the self-appointed leader of the team made up of herself, Disgust (voiced by Mindy Kaling), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Fear (voiced by Bill Hader) and Anger (voiced by Lewis Black). Together they make up Riley’s personality and oversee the creation of her memories. Joy believes every memory should be a happy one especially the core memories that make up the base of Riley’s personality. Just after the move, Sadness touches one of Riley’s core memories turning it from happy to sad. Trying to correct the problem, Joy and Sadness, along with all of Riley’s core memories, get sucked up into the pneumatic tube that transfers memories into long-term storage. Now only Disgust, Fear and Anger are left in the control room and try as they might, they cannot keep Riley on an even keel. She begins to act out, argue with her parents and withdraw from the world, saddened by leaving her old life in Minnesota. Joy and Sadness must be careful navigating their way back to the control room so they don’t lose Riley’s core memories in the giant chasm where old memories go to die. They get some help from Riley’s imaginary friend Bing Bong (voiced by Richard Kind) but still struggle to get back where they belong and thanks to a misguided idea by Anger, Riley is planning to runaway back to Minnesota…alone.

We expect any Disney/Pixar film to be entertaining and nice to look at but they usually surprise us with the amount of depth and intelligence these “kids’ movies” contain. “Inside Out” is no exception to this and may be the smartest film in the studio’s long and illustrious history. Without talking above the heads of the core audience but not talking down to the adults, “Inside Out” manages to tell a simple tale in a way that is illuminating and far more clever than one usually gets from an animated film. It doesn’t hurt that it is beautiful to look at and more than a little funny.

While the entire voice cast is great the stand out has to be Lewis Black as Anger. Best known for his aggressive standup style and his rants on “The Daily Show,” Lewis Black is perfectly cast as the stumpy, red-bodied Anger. His line delivery mixed with the perfect animation makes Anger, who could have been grating and annoying, the character you wish had been the focus of the film. You may have seen a trailer where Anger asks if he can use the curse word Riley knows. In the trailer it’s funny but in context it is much funnier. You would think Anger, stomping around with the top of his head glowing then bursting into flame when he reaches his limit, should really be the one in charge of the group. I understand why he isn’t since this is a movie for children and that would send the wrong message. Maybe if there is a sequel, Anger and Joy will have a power struggle over who is running things. Lewis Black is certainly the reason many adults will enjoy the film.

Parents will also appreciate the story as it develops during the course of Joy and Sadness journey through Riley’s mind. The two learn lessons about their place in Riley’s life and their relationships to each other. While many people think and speak in absolutes such as, “Everybody thinks like this” and “Nobody wants that,” that simply isn’t how life works. While a majority of people may think one way or the other or do one thing or another, there are always those that have differing opinions and preferences. Joy believes all of Riley’s memories should be happy and is most contented when, at the end of the day, the group of memories transferred to long-term storage shares her color of bright yellow. Any that are Disgust’s green, Fear’s purple, Anger’s red or Sadness’s blue means to Joy she is a failure. The story shows that life isn’t just happiness. Sometimes, other feelings make up our memories and hence our personalities and that’s the way it should be. It’s a lesson many adults could stand to learn as well.

Prior to “Inside Out,” the short “Lava” played. It tells the story of a volcano in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that watches the pairs of animals in love and wishes he had a companion as well. Pixar is terrific at telling heart wrenching stories in just a few minutes and they do the same with “Lava.” When it ended there were sniffles scattered around the theatre and it wasn’t allergies. If either “Lava” or “Inside Out” doesn’t at least make your eyes misty you have no soul.

“Inside Out” is rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action. The concept of upheaval and moving across the country to a scary house with a dead mouse in the corner might upset especially sensitive children. There is a train wreck shown that exposes some characters to a chance of physical danger. A character makes the ultimate sacrifice to save another and that was quite a gut punch for me personally. Foul language is, of course, not an issue.

From its imaginative depiction of the mind and the fairly realistic portrayal of a preteen girl in turmoil to some especially perfect voice acting, “Inside Out” may be Disney/Pixar’s best film for both a combined child and adult audience. It is so good, so funny, so well rendered, so moving, it should rank right up there as one of the greatest Pixar films in its history. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

“Inside Out” gets five glowing bright yellow stars out of five.

Three new movies open this week. I’ll see and review at least one of them.

Dope—

Max—

Ted 2—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Juassic World”

For some, older movies are like a warm blanket: Once you’re wrapped up in it you don’t want to move. My wife and I have a personal combined favorite of “Sixteen Candles.” If we are flipping around on the channels and see it pop up we’ll watch it no matter where we come in. We often quote lines from the film to each other when they happen to fit in the conversation. Personally, I have a warm spot in my heart for 1993’s “Jurassic Park.” While computer generated effects had been used in prior films, Steven Spielberg incorporated them both sparingly and perfectly. The scene where Sam Neill and Laura Dern’s characters first spot the three Brachiosaurus gave me the chills as it appeared to be as lifelike as one could have hoped. Many other scenes of dinosaurs were done with giant animatronic puppets and looked as good as the CG. What really sells that movie is the relationship between Neill and the younger characters he is forced to look over when things begin to go wrong. That gave what could have been a fairly average monster movie a bit more heart. In the franchise reboot “Jurassic World” we once again have impressive creatures running amok and a couple of younger characters in need of saving. In this film, the heart comes more from the relationship between a human and four velociraptors and the movie suffers a bit for it amongst other reasons.

Zach and Gray Mitchell (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) are brothers headed out on an adventure by themselves to visit their Aunt Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) who manages day to day operations at Jurassic World. Claire and the head of the conglomerate that owns the attraction Simon Masrani (Irfan Khan) are preparing to open a new feature with a hybrid dinosaur called Indominus Rex. The combination of T-Rex and other DNA has created a massive beast bigger than the T-Rex. Masrani wants Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a former military man that now works for the genetics company InGen that created the dinosaurs, to inspect the enclosure and make sure it can hold such a beast. Claire and Owen have a bit of history that makes the thought of working with him unpleasant for her. Owen and InGen’s head of security Vic Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) are working on a project to teach velociraptors to follow commands and that appears to be making progress. Hoskins wants to use trained raptors to replace some ground troops and go on search and destroy missions for the military. Owen thinks it’s a bad idea and unlikely to work. During his inspection of the enclosure, the I-Rex can’t be found on any of the heat sensitive monitors. Scratches on the wall appear to show the animal has climbed out. Owen and two others enter the enclosure and soon discover the I-Rex is still inside. Owen survives but the other two men are killed and the I-Rex breaks down a partially opened gate and escapes. Not wanting to cause a panic and hurt future revenue, Claire begins a partial shutdown of the park closest to where the I-Rex is but Zach and Gray break off from a tour in a rolling geosphere and go where they shouldn’t. Owen needs to know more about the kind of DNA used to make the I-Rex but is told the information is classified. Owen can tell by its behavior the I-Rex is far smarter and more adaptable than any other creature and fears all the measures taken to subdue it will fail.

“Jurassic World” makes a valiant attempt at recapturing the magic and wonder of “Jurassic Park.” Showing us the park through the eyes of young Ty Simpkins’ character along with the soaring music of the soundtrack which recycles John William’s original theme initially establishes a nostalgic connection with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic. Using Chris Pratt as a kind of mashup of both Sam Neill’s dino expert and Jeff Goldbloom’s mathematician is also a smart play. The super popular Pratt as the voice of calm and reason in the midst of either cold-hearted business decisions or deadly dinosaur chaos helps keep the audience grounded in at least a realm of reality in this very unreal situation. Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard work well together and have a chemistry that really shines when they are sniping at each other. The more they fall for each other (as inevitably happens in nearly all movies) their spark begins to die a little.

Initially, the idea of Pratt as the savior and protector of the two boys seemed to be a major plot point based on the first film; however, for most of the movie, the boys are on their own even after the park begins to fall into chaos and that actually works pretty well. They show some smarts and bravery that appears to be lacking in their relationship initially. Zach being the older and a teenager shows the prerequisite lack of interest in his younger brother. When the world begins to fall apart they become closer and while it’s cliché it was also nice to see as these two young actors seem to mesh quite well. Unfortunately, that also leaves Pratt’s main character stuck with playing daddy to four velociraptors.

The idea that these animals could be trained in a way that they would never kill someone they shouldn’t is just one of the film’s logical flaws. That even plays out early on when a worker falls in the raptor pen and Owen must save him. Any time watching the “Walking with Dinosaurs” series on the Discovery Channel or streaming it will show the viewer that the smartest dinosaur ever had the IQ of a chicken. It makes for an interesting subplot but it also could cause you to concuss yourself slapping your forehead with your hand. The entire set up of the park seems to be designed to get people killed. One scene shows families in canoes rowing down a stream next to large plant-eating dinosaurs. One slip on a rock and there’s a multi ton creature falling on a boatload of guests. The lawsuits for wrongful death and injury would bankrupt that place in a matter of days. Also, keeping the pterosaurs in a glass building seems like a terrible idea and it is shown to be in the film. Also, the park is on an island that can only be evacuated in mass by cruise ships. While keeping the creatures on the island is a good idea, getting people to and from the island seems like it would be a nightmare in an emergency situation. Everyone is stuck until a boat shows up. They don’t exactly move that fast and take even longer to get docked. While the island is accessible by helicopter they cannot handle that many passengers and we never see a landing strip or airport on the island for fixed wing craft. As much as I would love to see dinosaurs in real life, if Jurassic World actually existed and I could afford it, I’m not sure I’d want to go.

All that said, I’m making the mistake I encourage others not to by applying too much logic to a movie. It’s a film about dinosaurs eating people and each other and it’s a great deal of fun. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard work well together in roles that don’t really ask much of their abilities. They breathe a little humanity into their characters when they could have been just Hollywood standard issue action movie leads. Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins aren’t annoying kid characters but characters who happen to be kids. They are allowed to grow and mature a bit as the story goes along and while it is all stuff we’ve seen before they do it very well. Vincent D’Onofrio is slimy from the first frame of film he’s seen in and you know he’s going to be the cause of some trouble. While not the nuanced performance of his recent work in Marvel’s Netflix series “Daredevil,” D’Onofrio gives the movie a bad guy that isn’t a dinosaur. We see his desire for power and prestige and he believes in his cause with a fervor that borders on religious. We know we shouldn’t like him but it’s hard not to be drawn in to his enthusiasm. All these films must have a bit of comic relief and that’s supplied by Jake Johnson, best known as Nick on the TV comedy “New Girl,” who plays a control room operator named Cruthers. He’s trying hard to be the conscience of the corporate entity that runs the park and he’s constantly ignored. His brief appearances are usually quite funny and his character is the everyman who feels unnoticed and unknown. The only character from the original film that makes an appearance is Dr. Henry Wu played by B.D. Wong. Dr. Wu has largely been an exposition machine explaining about how the dinosaurs were made. Now, his character has been upgraded into a borderline bad guy. Wu is a geneticist with no ethics. He’s constantly trying to build a bigger, meaner dinosaur and doesn’t care about the consequences. He sees his research as a boon to mankind that will have applications outside the park. My guess is he will learn he is merely a pawn to corporate greed as we will see him in any future sequels.

“Jurassic World” is rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence and peril. Basically dinosaurs eat people and each other. They chase and attack people and each other. If you’ve ever seen a documentary about crocodiles in Africa waiting for the animals to drink at the river’s edge and then attack them, you’ve seen most of the violence in “Jurassic World.” Foul language is mild and minimal.

While it lacks the awe and wonder of “Jurassic Park,” “Jurassic World” is a perfectly fine summer blockbuster that provides lots of CG eye candy and thrills. Don’t invest a huge amount of thought in what’s going on and the experience will not be spoiled. While ignoring the clichés and some of the sillier aspects of the story might pose a larger challenge, “Jurassic World” will likely provide a couple of hours enjoyment in a cool theatre on a hot summer day or evening.

“Jurassic World” gets four stars out of five.

This week, the trials of being a musical genius, the voices in your head and the making of a 40 year tradition all hit screens and hope you’ll spend your money to see them. I’ll see at least one of them and review it.

Inside Out—

Live From New York—

Love and Mercy—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Spy”

Bradley Fine (Jude Law) is one of the CIA’s top agents; but he admits he couldn’t do his job without the support of CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) who feeds him information through an ear piece.  Fine is sent on a mission to apprehend Raina Boyanova (Rose Byrne), the daughter of an Eastern European arms dealer that Fine recently killed by accidently shooting him in the head when Fine sneezed.  Boyanova has a tactical nuclear device that is available to the highest bidder.  To keep it from falling into the wrong hands, the CIA sent in Fine; however, Boyanova gets the drop on him and kills him.  She knows someone is listening and rattles off the names of all the CIA’s top agents, warning them to leave her alone or they will meet the same fate.  Susan sees and hears the whole thing and cries because she has a crush on Fine.  During a meeting with CIA Director Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) and other CIA agents including the hotheaded Agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham), Cooper offers to go into the field since no one knows who she is outside the agency and track Raina to her meeting with arms dealer Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale) who has contacts with a particularly dangerous terrorist group.  Ford is livid and insists on going in guns blazing to get the location of the bomb from Raina.  Crocker disagrees and puts the wheels in motion to put Cooper into the field.  Ford quits in disgust.  Cooper is given a new identity that is decidedly not as sexy as she had hoped and is paired up with another analyst who is also her friend, Nancy (Miranda Hart), who will guide her through an ear piece just like Cooper did for Fine.

This is going to be a short review because “Spy” is just about a perfect action comedy.  Melissa McCarthy is perfect in the role of Susan Cooper, a behind-the-scenes gal who just needs that one break to shine and show what she’s got.  McCarthy is a fearless performer who doesn’t mind looking goofy and sometimes unsympathetic in order to sell her character.  McCarthy is given more than just humorous moments in “Spy.”  There are scenes where she must express painful emotions and even announce her unrequited love for a spy that she believes betrayed her and the agency.  McCarthy is able to convey a far more nuanced performance than one might expect from a broad and raunchy comedy.

The rest of the cast is also asked to deliver complex performances and they all shine bright.  Rose Byrne as the main bad guy is brilliant.  She’s supposed to be a cold, aloof and deadly socialite who also is taking over her late father’s criminal empire; however, that veneer of icy perfection is always on the edge of cracking if things don’t go exactly to her liking.  This usually leads to a sting of expletives and some very funny business.  Byrne proved her comedic chops in “Neighbors” with Seth Rogen last year and merely added to her humorous resume with “Spy.”

If there is a surprise from any of the performances it comes from Jason Statham as the powder keg of an agent Rick Ford.  Statham’s performance isn’t that much different than what he did in “Fast and Furious 7” or his “Transporter” movies or any other of his films.  That’s precisely why it’s so funny.  Statham’s Ford is constantly bragging about how he has suffered incredible injuries and everyone he’s ever loved has been killed by the object of his investigations and yet he still manages to get the job done.  The interactions between Ford and Cooper after his stories reach a point to extreme silliness are some of the film’s best scenes.  While these two characters are at constant odds with each other the chemistry between McCarthy and Statham is undeniable.  They obviously enjoy playing with each other and I’m sure the DVD will be filled with outtakes featuring the pair.  Those may be the funniest parts of the movie we’ll have to wait for.

If the film has a weakness, and it’s tiny, it’s the stunt work during some of the action scenes.  The actual stunts themselves are great; however, when the action is supposed to be carried out by McCarthy’s character and it’s obviously a stunt person wearing a wig and matching outfit, it pulled me right out of the film.  This only happens a time or two but it is so obvious it is jarring.  There is also a stunt near the end of the film where the replacement of McCarthy is far more seamless but the stunt itself makes it clear someone other than the star is doing it.  It’s a tiny quibble but I wanted to point it out so you can be on the lookout for more bad stunt doubles when you see the film.

“Spy” is rated R for language throughout, violence, and some sexual content including brief graphic nudity.  There are several fights mostly of the acrobatic variety.  Some are bloody including seeing a knife stabbed through a woman’s hand.  There is also a fight scene where a man has his ankle graphically broken when it is stomped on.  There are also a couple of vomit scenes.  There are a couple of scenes where a foreign agent gets very handsy with McCarthy’s Cooper.  There is also a sex act briefly shown but there is no nudity.  I cannot remember any nudity in the film at all.  Foul language is common throughout the film.

“Spy” is about the most consistently funny film I’ve seen in a long time.  While there are some action scenes and shots of the skyline of whatever European city the story takes us to, there is very little wasted time getting to the next set up of jokes or physical humor.  The entire cast is given a chance to show off their comedic abilities and no one disappoints.  Even the characters that are playing it as straight as possible deliver significant laughs regularly.  It is the kind of action comedy that should be studied by everyone in Hollywood and copied relentlessly.  Writer/director Paul Feig should receive every possible award for this gem of a film.  See it then see it again so the movie industry knows this is the kind of film they should be making more of if they want to have a nice fat bottom line.

“Spy” gets a very enthusiastic five stars.

Next week only one film opens in wide release, so I’ll be reviewing “Jurassic World.”

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send email to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.