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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
(Rated PG for rude humor and some action.)
The cast: Voices of Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Zach Galifianakis and Ralph Fiennes.
What it’s about: This spinoff of The Lego Movie hilariously deconstructs the troubled superhero. This version of Batman (Arnett) is rude, arrogant and completely uninterested in being part of a team. But he’s forced to change after he accidentally adopts an orphan named Dick Grayson (Cera) and his nemesis The Joker (Galifianakis) threatens Gotham City. With some urging from new commissioner Barbara Gordon (Dawson) and his trusty butler Alfred (Fiennes), Batman learns a new way to fight crime.
The good: The first half hour of The Lego Batman Movie is darn near perfect. The jokes fly nonstop and almost all of them are top-level hilarious. You know that stomachache you get from laughing too hard? That happened to me in the opening 10 minutes.
Usually, the more screenwriters a movie has the more nervous I get (more doesn’t equal better in Hollywood), but the team of Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington proved me wrong here. They understand Batman on a fundamental level, the traits that make him a great superhero as well as the characteristics that would make him a nightmare in real life. It baffles me that DC Studios can get the Dark Knight exactly right in a kid’s movie but miss the point completely in its mega-budget live action franchise.
The voice actors add even more enthusiasm to the project. Every role is perfectly cast, especially when it comes to Arnett. His gloriously smug interpretation of Batman completely embodies the hero’s positive and negative attributes. I’m dead serious when I say he’s one of the best actors to ever inhabit the role. Galifianakis is fantastic as well, playing the iconic villain relatively straight. Weirdly enough, it might be the most “normal” performance the oddball actor has ever delivered.
The not-so-good: The jokes slow down once the second act kicks in and the plot begins to fully unfold, but the movie stays entertaining throughout. The 104-minute running time might be a bit much for younger viewers (my daughter starting getting antsy around an hour in), but that shouldn’t be a problem for bigger kids.
Grade: B+
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| Courtesy of Lionsgate |
(Rated R for strong violence throughout, some language and brief nudity.)
The cast: Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common and Laurence Fishburne.
What it’s about: Legendary assassin John Wick (Reeves) – who we last saw taking revenge on the Russian gangsters who stole his car and killed his dog – is finally ready to settle back into retirement. Of course, a sequel can’t just show him fishing and playing golf for two hours. Instead, he’s visited by a former colleague (Scamarcio) who holds immense power over him. Bound by a blood oath, Wick is forced to travel to Rome and battle a host of deadly villains so the man pulling his strings can take control of a secret society.
The good: The first flick came out of nowhere and quickly became one of my all-time favorite action movies. Fans of the bonkers, mysterious narrative that screenwriter Derek Kolstad crafted will be happy to know that this highly anticipated (by me, at least) sequel dives much deeper into John Wick’s mythology-heavy world.
Reeves continues to astonish in the title role, executing jaw-dropping fight choreography (especially considering the seemingly ageless actor is 52!) and conveying a wide range of emotion with intentionally minimal dialogue. Once again, he’s surrounded by a host of magnetic character actors – some returning from the original (including McShane, Lance Reddick, John Leguizamo and Thomas Sadoski) and others making their first appearance (Fishburne, Common and the stunning Rose).
They’re all fantastic, but Common stands out the most. His character manages to be just as imposing as Wick and holds his own against the titular assassin better than any foe we’ve seen so far. I’d love to see him come back in a future sequel or even get his own spinoff movie.
On paper, John Wick: Chapter 2 shouldn’t work. Every time another ludicrous plot development unfolded or Wick shot 12 more guys in the head, I would mutter “this is so stupid” under my breath. But I did it with a gigantic smile that never left my face. I love these crazy movies so much.
The not-so-good: While it still managed to meet my sky-high expectations, the film simply can’t pull off the same level of constant surprise that the first one did. To be fair, that’s an occupational hazard that comes with most sequels. Finally, another drawback is that it ends on a cliffhanger with no guarantee we’ll get a resolution. That’s one way the original is clearly better: it tells a self-contained story, but leaves the door open just in case. This one just assumes there will be more, which is always a risky proposition.
Grade: A-
Blu-ray Review: Trolls
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| Courtesy of DreamWorks |
(Rated PG for some mild rude humor.)
The cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Christine Baranski, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Zooey Deschanel.
What it’s about: After Princess Poppy (Kendrick) throws a party that leads to her crazy-haired troll friends being captured by an evil Chef (Baranski), she asks grouchy Branch (Timberlake) to help her rescue them. The duo finds an unlikely partner in Bridget (Deschanel), a maid nursing a secret crush on the king (Mintz-Plasse) currently planning a feast with Poppy’s friends as the main course. With her help, the trolls might just find their friends and bring happiness to the kingdom.
The good: Trolls was one of 2016’s most pleasant surprises for me. I saw it on a whim several weeks after opening weekend, but I’m glad I did. It could’ve been a nostalgia-driven cash grab, but there’s a strong sense of humor running through the screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. It’s also got a killer soundtrack (executive produced by co-star Timberlake), a strong voice cast and a visually pleasing aesthetic.
Plus, the Blu-ray (which hit stores on Tuesday) offers a number of engaging bonus features, including deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes and interactive elements that allow kids to engage with the film using their remotes.
The not-so-good: I’ve heard some parents complain that the movie is too slight, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. Chalk it up to different sensibilities, I suppose. Although I will admit that the soundtrack is wearing on me a bit; my daughter has listened to it at least once a day since she got it for Christmas.
Grade: B
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