Star Trek: Into Darkness

Posted on May 16, 2013 at 9:36 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence
Profanity:	A few s-words and a couple of other bad words
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, bar
Violence/ Scariness:	Extensive sci-fi/action violence including acts of terrorism, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	May 16, 2013
Date Released to DVD:	September 9, 2013
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00AZMFJYA

This time, there’s crying in “Star Trek.” And some very significant time on Earth as well. This story is in the most literal sense, close to home.

Writer-director J.J. Abrams, who rebooted Gene Roddenberry’s original “Star Trek” saga with a rousing 2009 origin story prequel now takes us closer to the place where the original series began. There’s just a touch of the famous soaring theme song and some references the old-school Trekkers (don’t call them Trekkies) will love. A tribble plays a key role, and there’s a mention of a certain Ms. Chapel, who is studying to be a nurse. A character from the original series appears to give us some more of his backstory. And we get to hear Uhura speak Klingon.

But the primary focus is on the relationship between the main characters, Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Bones (Karl Urban), and especially the cerebral half-Vulcan Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the impetuous Kirk (Chris Pine). We rejoin the story mid-chase on a remote planet with a massive volcano about to explode and the Prime Directive (the Federation observes and reports but does not interfere with other civilizations or alter their destiny, even by being seen by them) is about to be jettisoned once again.

As in the original series and its sequels, “Star Trek: Into Darkness” takes on moral dilemmas and geopolitical allegories with the same full-on gusto with which the characters engage with the adventures of the universe. The issue of the few weighed against the many and the personal connections weighed against the larger world (or galaxy) comes up several times, in increasingly complex variations. And, of course, there’s a ton of action.

It is impossible to say much more — including some minor quibbles — without some serious spoilers, though I will object to the under-use of the talented Alice Eve, who is playing a brilliant scientist but for no reason whatsoever has to appear in her underwear. As for plot, I will just say that a terrorist-style attack in London leads to an interplanetary chase into Klingon territory. But as so often happens in the allegorical Roddenberry universe that gives all of “Star Trek” its resonance, the real enemy may be ourselves. The performances are all superb, including Benedict Cumberbatch of the PBS series “Sherlock” bringing terrifying power and ferocity to the role of the villain with the English accent. They go where many, many men and women have gone before, but they do it right.

Parents should know that this film includes constant sci-fi/action violence including chases, explosions, fights, guns, terrorist-style attacks, characters injured and killed, brief disturbing images, some non-explicit sexual references and situation, drinking, and some strong language (s-words, etc.).

Family discussion: Several characters have to make choices about who is more important — the people they know or the larger group of strangers. What are some real-life situations where people have to make similar decisions? What factors should they consider? Why does Pike think that Kirk deserves a second chance? How do you know when to break the rules? Is it because there are other rules that are more important?

If you like this, try: the “Star Trek” movies and television series, the comedy “Galaxy Quest,” and the documentary “Trekkies”

Iron Man 3

Posted on May 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout and brief suggestive content
Profanity:	A few bad words including a crude insult to a child that is slang for private parts
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, scene in a bar
Violence/ Scariness:	Extensive comic-book-style action violence with a few graphic images, terrorism, guns, explosions, characters in peril, references to suicide
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	May 3, 2013
Date Released to DVD:	September 23, 2013
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00CL0J99K

Good for Marvel/Disney in keeping the title simple. No fancy Roman numerals, no colon, so extra words about the return of this or the revenge of that. But if there was a second title for this third in the “Iron Man” series, it could be “The Rise of Tony Stark.” The first two films were about the man who describes himself as “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” (and also says, “I am volatile, self-obsessed, and don’t play well with others”) literally losing his heart and becoming something between a robot and a rocket ship. In this one, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) loses almost everything else and begins to find himself.

Jon Favreau, who directed the first two films, turns over the reins to screenwriter-turned-director Shane Black, who showed a sensibility ideal for bringing out the best in Downey in the breakthrough film, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” And Downey’s best is as good as it gets. Black, who co-wrote the film, has a darker humor and a more twisted take on the story, and it works very well, even bringing in Favreau for a small but important part as Happy Hogan, Stark’s loyal head of security, a tough guy with a soft spot for “Downton Abbey.” Don Cheadle returns as Colonel Rhodes, whose iron suit persona has been re-branded from War Machine to the more family-friendly Iron Patriot. And the repartee with Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow) is dry as a martini, knowing, sexy, and harking back to the sublime banter of “The Thin Man.”

It begins with a flashback to New Year’s Eve 1999, where we see the old Tony, careless in both respects. He does not care about what happens to other people and he does not care what happens to him. He leaves a note for a woman with whom he shared a one-night stand: “You know who I am.” But even he does not know who he is. He barely notices anyone else, which turns out to be a major mistake personally, professionally, and in terms of setting off some very bad consequences for the future of the planet.

By the time he figures that out, he will be more vulnerable than he has ever been before. He has allowed himself to open his arc reactor-fueled heart to Pepper, so he has much more to lose. And he is struggling to recover from the trauma of the fight against Loki (“The Avengers”), so it will be harder for him to respond. He does not sleep. He barely notices what is going on around him. He just works furiously to perfect his iron man suit, his only companion in the lab the artificial intelligence butler/sidekick Jarvis (impeccably dry delivery voiced by Paul Bettany). “I’ve also prepared a safety briefing for you to entirely ignore,” Jarvis says briskly.

Outside, it is December and Christmas celebrations are everywhere. But a villain who calls himself The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley, clearly having a blast) is causing damage and unrest. “Some people call me a terrorist,” he says to the world. “I consider myself a teacher.” He explains that he is acting in the tradition of a notorious American attack on an Indian settlement when they knew the warriors would not be there, killing the unprotected women and children.

Happy is critically injured in an attack, and it is too much for Tony, who implusively gives out his home address and dares The Mandarin to come after him. Invitation accepted — target destroyed. Everything he has worked on is gone. So is every place he feels safe. To keep Pepper safe, he goes underground, allowing the world to think he is dead. But that removes him from his money, his home, his power, his equipment, and his iron flying suits. He has to fight The Mandarin — and a more powerful enemy he does not even know about — with some supplies from the local hardware store and a little girl’s Dora the Explorer (limited edition) digital watch.

There’s a lot to process. I haven’t even gotten to the giant stuffed bunny, the beauty pageant, the secret experiments, and the attack on Air Force One. And, of course, the stunts and special effects.

The plot is a bit cluttered, though it helps that the detours include unexpected help from “Happy Endings'” Adam Pally and a mechanically-minded latchkey kid (Ty Simpkins). Not so much the cameos from Bill Maher and Joan Rivers, which feel tired and superfluous. The stunts are fine. The script has some clever lines and some cleverer digs at messaging and brand strategy. What matters, though, is Downey’s total commitment to playing Stark as a flawed, complex, but greatly gifted character.

Parents should know that this film has non-stop comic-book-style violence including terrorism, with chases, explosions, and shooting, intense but only briefly graphic, some strong language, some alcohol, some sexual references, potty humor, and references to suicide.

Family discussion: How do Tony’s actions in 1999 set the movie’s events in motion? How do we see both the heroes and villains think about the importance of public relations? How can desperation be a gift?

If you like this, try: “The Avengers” and the first two “Iron Man” movies

Jurassic Park 3D

Posted on April 4, 2013 at 6:00 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for intense science fiction terror
Profanity:	Brief strong language (s-word, SOB)
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Smoking, drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Intense and sometimes graphic peril and violence featuring children and adults, adult characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	April 5, 2013
Date Released to DVD:	April 22, 2013
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00B4804KS

Back in 1993, what was astonishing in “Jurassic Park” was the special effects that seemed to bring dinosaurs back to life. Two decades later, rediscovering Steven Spielberg’s mastery of cinematic storytelling is the best reason to go see it again.

It is back in theaters with the best 3D conversion I’ve seen, avoiding the cheesy Viewmaster effect too often the result of adding 3D effects after a movie has already been filmed. Other than a couple of shots where the foreground is distractingly blurred, the effects are immersive and organic, and the dinosaurs-jumping-toward-you moments are sparing and effective.

My favorite moment in the film has always been when the characters are trying to outrace the charging T-Rex in a jeep. All of a sudden, we see a toothy dinosaur coming at them fast and angry in the side rear-view mirror. It takes a moment for the words on the mirror to register: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” Spielberg has found a way to make us laugh and ramp up the tension at the same time. And it is even more compelling in 3D.

The movie holds up remarkably well, other than the computers and walkie-talkies used by the characters, which will seem to today’s audiences almost as prehistoric as the dinosaurs. On the other hand, its then-state-of-the-art special effects, a combination of mechanical creations and computer images, are still as immediately believable as the high-techiest creatures on screen today.

Spielberg has gone on to weightier and more prestigious projects, but this thrill ride of a popcorn pleasure is one of his best and a masterpiece of the genre. It shows his unparalleled gifts for pacing and for the visual language of movies, and his ability to make us invest in the characters. That is what makes all the special effects pack an emotional wallop. He conveys more with ripples in a glass of water — or a sneeze — than most filmmakers can with 15 pages of dialogue.

The story, based on a book by the late Michael Crichton, begins with hubris, the sin of pride so great that a man places himself with the gods and thus sets the stage for his downfall. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is a vastly wealthy man who dreams of extracting dinosaur and plant DNA that has been trapped for millions of years in amber and using it to reboot species of flora and fauna that have not been seen on earth. Spielberg grounds the story with a strong moral core that lets us enjoy the catastrophic destruction ahead without any inconvenient pangs of conscience.

Spielberg also makes sure we have someone to root for, lining up our loyalties with a quick introduction to characters we can both identify with and admire. Laura Dern and Sam Neill play experts in paleolithic animals and plants. They are (1) interested in science, not money (except to pursue more science), and (2) in love. That’s all we need to know. But just to make sure, he adds in a couple of children (Hammond is their grandfather), who not only get our automatic protective instincts going but give Neill’s character a chance to grow. At the beginning, he does not like children. At the end — spoiler alert — he does.

Go to see “Jurassic Park” in 3D. Go to take your kids who were not born when it was released. Go to see it the way it should be seen, on a big screen in a theater filled with happily terrified fans. Go to see Samuel L. Jackson before he was SAMUEL L. JACKSON. And for a young female computer whiz who could grow up to be Sheryl Sandberg. But most of all, go for the resoundingly satisfying delight of watching pure Spielberg movie magic.

Parents should know that this movie has non-stop peril, with characters injured and killed and some graphic scenes of injury, including a severed limb, brief strong language (s-word, SOB), drinking and smoking

Family discussion: How many different controls were in place to prevent the dinosaurs from hurting anyone and how did each one fail? What have been the biggest changes in science and technology since this movie was made? Learn about current experiments with gene splicing of animals by reading Frankenstein’s Cat by Emily Anthes

If you like this, try: your local museum to see dinosaur fossils and Spielberg’s “Jaws” and “Duel”

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Posted on March 28, 2013 at 10:30 am

As big, dumb, action and explosions and “hell, yeah, ooyah” movies based on toys go, this one is a lot of fun. Jon M. Chu, director of two of the “Step Up” movies and producer of the third knows how to shoot movement and understands pacing and tone.

In an opening lifted from “The A-Team” (and others) our heroes, the “Joes” elite military unit saves the day and then gets discredited after an ambush wipes out almost all of them and the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce, having a lot of fun) goes on television to say that the Joes betrayed our country by trying to steal nuclear weapons.

If the Joes are not traitors and the President says they are, something must be wrong. The surviving Joes include Roadblock (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). Dodging the various bad guys trying to kill them, they find their way to the original Joe, retired General Joe Colton (a tough, wry, and completely terrific Bruce Willis), and (spoiler alert) save the day. Until next time.

When a movie begins with a big Hasbro logo, we know we’re not here for the witty repartee. This is a movie based on toys. That’s why it does not really matter when it seems like the script was inspired by listening in on a group of seven year-olds making up stories for their dolls, I mean action figures.

And the dialogue is surprisingly entertaining after all, delivered with great relish by two masters of tough guy witticisms, plus reigning sexiest man alive Channing Tatum. “Brazil’s” Jonathan Pryce has some choice moments, explaining one of the benefits of being President: “I got to hang out with Bono.” And he gets to blow stuff up. “It’s good to know we’re not running low on crazy,” he smiles when welcoming some bad guys to the party, and he plays a game on his phone in the middle of a meeting of world leaders. There are even a few shrewd political jibes, and some patriotic references to Fort Sumpter and the American Revolution. And there’s a bad guy with an oxygen tank like Darth Vader and Bane who is more into putting his logo all over everything than Donald Trump. He even brands his weapons of mass destruction.

Roadblock, asked to say some words of inspiration before going into battle, calls on a noted theologian: “In the immortal words of Jay-Z, whatever deity may guide my life, dear lord don’t me die tonight.” And there’s plenty of deadpan tough guy talk. The other side’s weapons are “cold war stuff but it will still put a hole in you.” Roadblock wants to vanquish the bad guys in time to get home for “Top Chef.” And he loves his little girls.

But we’re here for the stunts, and they deliver, especially one bravura fight that’s part bungee cord, part rappelling rope, part zip wire. With ninjas. In 3D. That’s worth your price of admission right there. These are guys who literally bring a knife to a gun fight and make it work. Ooyah. On to #3.

Parents should know that this film includes constant peril and action-style military violence with guns, explosives, swords, knives, and martial arts, cataclysmic damage, characters injured and killed, brief disturbing images, brief scenes of a woman in skimpy clothes, and some strong language.

Family discussion: Who is Storm Shadow loyal to? Why did Roadblock take the dog tags? What would your “Joe name” be?

If you like this, try: the first “G.I. Joe” movie and “The A-Team”

Related Tags:

3D Action/Adventure Series/Sequel

The Croods

Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:00 pm

I think we can all agree that at least in some respects all children are Neanderthals. It is the grand challenge of parenthood to civilize these sometimes savage little creatures by teaching them language, manners, and keeping safe. And some of the most difficult choices parents must make come when we try to encourage children to be strong, brave, independent, and adventuresome when it comes to accomplishing goals in school, sports, and chores while protecting them from mistakes that could be hurtful or even devastating.

That’s the idea behind sweet new animated film about a prehistoric cave family. Familiar family dynamics are amusingly exaggerated in the Paleolithic setting, where the most basic necessities require everyone’s full-time attention. The heavy-boned characters designed by the brilliantly witty Carter Goodrich (“Despicable Me,” “Hotel Transylvania”) may argue with each other, but they demonstrate the strength of their bond on the hunting/gathering expedition. When this family goes out to get breakfast, they really go out to get breakfast. In a joyously-choreographed race to get food, parents Grug (Nicolas Cage) and Ugga (Catherine Keener), Ugga’s mother Gran (Cloris Leachman), and their three children work seamlessly together somewhere between extreme dodgeball, an obstacle course, and a rugby game. Even the happily feral baby joins in for a crucial maneuver.

Other than that, they stay inside the cold, dark, cave. None of the other families of their community have survived, and Grug is terrified of anything that he cannot control. So he tells his family that “curiosity is bad and anything that is new is bad” and insists that they all stay inside together. Keeping everyone alive is his full-time job. “Never not be afraid,” he warns them. “Fear keeps us alive.” “I will never do anything new or different,” promises his son Thunk (Clark Duke). But rebellious teenagers go back as far as protective fathers, and Eep wants to explore the world outside the cave. What Grug sees as safe and under control, Eep sees as boring and old-fashioned.

That bigger world Eep wants to see includes a stranger, a guy named Guy (Ryan Reynolds). He has a lot of new ideas like tools, shoes, a “belt” (a monkey with a theatrical flair for flourish), and “baby suns” — fire. Eep wants to learn more. And soon Grug has to make changes because the tectonic plates start to shift beneath him. Staying the same is no longer safe. The family must leave the cave to find a new place to live. Grug has to learn that sometimes new is not bad. And Eep has to learn the value of what she already has.

Kids will enjoy outsmarting the Neanderthals, whose experience of the world is so limited that they think fire can be extinguished by dry grass and they will marvel at the notion that there had to be a first-ever hug. They will get a kick out of Guy as a proto-MacGyver who shows his traveling companions how to use rocks, vines, leaves — and strategy — to trap food and protect themselves from predators. As Grug and his family leave their rocky home they find new environments that are increasingly dazzling, with spectacularly imagined vistas and gorgeous vegetation. Those images nicely parallel the opening minds and spirits of Grug and his family. Despite a few too many mother-in-law jokes, “The Croods” nicely makes it clear that even before they had fire, families understood how important it was to cherish and protect each other. And Eep reminds us that what may feel like teenage obstinacy and foolhardiness may just be the next step in our evolution.

Parents should know that this movie has some scary animals and children and adults in peril, with references to sad off-screen deaths. There is brief crude humor and there are repeated jokes about Grug wishing that his mother-in-law would die.

Family discussion: How can you tell when it is time to try new things and time to stick with what you know? What did Guy and Grug learn from each other?

If you like this, try: Visit a museum or do some research in books to look at prehistoric fossils and bones and watch “The Land Before Time,” the “Ice Age” series, and “The Flintstones”