The Flash

Posted on June 15, 2023 at 5:16 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity
Profanity:	Some strong language, several s-words, one f-word
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended comic-book action peril and violence, injuries and sad deaths
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	June 15, 2023

“The Flash” is centered in the sweet spot between action, comedy, and heart because is is grounded in a deep affection for the source material but is not afraid to play with some of its absurdities. I’m going to tread very carefully to avoid spoilers (and alert you to what I hope will be just two of the jokes in this review), but if you want to go into the film knowing nothing, including what is in the trailer, come back and read this after you’ve seen it.

Ezra Miller shows no signs of the instability that has led to troubling behavior and disturbing headlines in his excellent performance as not one but two Barry Allens. The storyline allows for something of an origin story without the too-often superhero film mistake of making it all about the adjustment to the use and purpose of superpowers and attendant vulnerabilities. We first see Barry Allen (Flash’s secret identity) trying to get a high-protein sandwich at a cafe counter. He is, unsurprisingly, in a hurry because first, he is running late, and two, as a result of the energy he burns in his super-fastness requires a lot of food for fuel. It’s not quite like Popeye and spinach, but it’s not not like it, either.

Barry is awkward and shy. He works as a forensic scientist, looking at evidence from crime scenes. And he is hoping to exonerate his father, Henry (Ron Livingston), who is in prison for murdering his wife, Barry’s mother, when Barry was a child. Barry knows his father is innocent, and is hoping that his friend Bruce (Batman) Wayne (Ben Affleck) can help him with a crucial piece of evidence, security camera footage from a grocery store that would substantiate Henry’s alibi. But the enhanced clarity of the tape, shot from above, does not show Henry’s face, only his baseball cap. Barry, devastated, goes for such an intensive run that he passes the speed of light and goes back in time. If he can do that, he reasons, maybe he can go back further and prevent his mother’s murder. Bruce Wayne warns him it is a big mistake. Butterfly effect, etc. He, of course, knows very well what it is like to have your entire live defined by a devastating childhood loss.

Barry cannot resist. And that is when things start to scramble. First, one very small choice somehow had a lot of major repercussions, some strangely random. Somehow, instead of Michael J. Fox coming in to replace him, the original star of “Back to the Future,” Eric Stoltz, stayed in the role. The people he knows from his timeline are either not there or very different. And second, Barry misjudged and instead of returning to the present, he finds himself 10 years ago, which means, yes, that his teen-age self is there, too. The interaction between the two Barrys (both played by Miller), one formed by the murder of his mother and wrongful conviction of his father and one who grew up in a home with intact, loving parents, is at the heart of the film. In fact, the villain (Michael Shannon as Kryptonian bad guy General Zod) is almost an afterthought in this film, relying on our remembering him and his whole deal from previous encounters.

Instead, the movie is more about Barry, both Barrys, their interaction and their growing understanding of their situation and, if it can be put this way, each other. From a small, witty hiccup in the presentation of the movie’s title to the throwaway lines about other anomalies in the pile of spaghetti that is what happens when you splinter linear time, to some funny cameos (Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth provides one of the film’s best moments), the film is more interested in concept and character than mayhem.

That’s a good thing as the mayhem is more serviceable than memorable. This is a movie that is more about the people than the powers, and that is a superpower worth having.

Parents should know that this film includes brief non-sexual male nudity (bare tush), some strong language (s-words and one f-word), and extended comic book-style peril and action violence, with injuries and some sad deaths.

Family discussion: What one small decision have you made that had a surprisingly big impact on your life? If you could go back in time ten years, what advice would you give yourself?

If you like this, try; Other time-warp movies like “Back to the Future” with Michael J. Fox and “Frequency” as well as other DC Comics movies

Fast X

Posted on May 18, 2023 at 5:10 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action, language, and some suggestive material
Profanity:	Strong language, including a child using the s-word
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol and brief humorous drug use
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended action, peril, and violence, some disturbing and grisly images, very sad death of a major character
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	May 19, 2023
Date Released to DVD:	August 7, 2023

I’d love to talk to the person whose job is Googling or visiting some of the world’s iconic locations and then imagining how they can be trashed with car chases and explosions. Ten movies in (with apparently at least two more to go), the “Fast and Furious” series that began with a comparatively modest story about street racing has morphed into one of the most successful film franchises of all time, with a complicated trajectory and a lot of characters going undercover to chase Mcguffins for the CIA, but never wasting much time on whether the plot or the physics make sense. As a character says, “If it violates the laws of God and gravity, they did it twice.”

Next to the chases and explosions, the most creative part of the series was stripping down the original title, “The Fast and the Furious,” so that now part one of what is supposed to be the final saga is simply “Fast X.” They have to stop now, or the only title they will be able to use is just “FF.”

In order of importance to the filmmakers and the audience:

1. Let’s literally cut to the chase, or chases. Many, many chases and races. Many fabulous locations including Rome and Portugal. Bridges, helicopters, Much hitting and smashing through various barriers, some amphibious many ticking remote controlled bombs, one gigantic bomb sphere that looks like the rock that chased Indiana Jones in the first film crossed with the Death Star. Lots of fight scenes including two of the toughest women in film: Michelle Rodriguez as Letty and Charlize Theron as former and perhaps future supervillain Cipher, who shows up on Dom’s doorstep because “the enemy of my enemy….”

2. With so much star power on the side of Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel, occasionally adding slight movement to the one basic facial expression that signifies approval and determination), the villain in these movies has to be not just over the top but over the top of the top, doing a triple gainer, and then coming down to the top of the top again. Jason Momoa does all of this and more as the most completely bats times coo coo-bananas bad guy since Jack Nicholson as the Joker in “Batman,” with a touch of Jim Carrey as the Riddler and Heath Ledger as the Joker added for spice. Anyone remember the villain from #5? Anyone? It was Brazilian drug dealer Herman Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), who was killed at the end of that film. We get a retcon flashback here to learn that Reyes had a son named Dante, and that he importantly told Dante that killing opponents was not as important as torturing them by hurting those they love. Dom loves a lot of people. More than racing cars, his sense of himself is entirely based on his ability to keep them safe. As they say, this time it’s personal. Dante is the most dangerous of all because he has no normal bad guy goal like making money or amassing power. He just wants to destroy people and for that he cannot be intimidated, redirected, or persuaded.

3. The fans will enjoy many, many references and callbacks to the earlier films including everyone making fun of Roman (Tyrese Gibson) for not being very smart or super-good at anything There are also knowing winks at some of the film’s conventions, like those in law enforcement who initially come after Dom’s found family for breaking the law ending up on his side (Brian, Elena, Jacob), and many nods to the past nine films like nitrous oxide push, the return of various characters (Han/Deckard remix), the re-appearance of the “God’s Eye” (the ultimate McGuffin) and, a deeper cut, computer whiz Ramsey suddenly knowing about cars. There’s also something that almost rises to the level of a theme of children, including adult children, trying to please or carry on the work of their fathers, including Dante, Dom’s son “Little B” (for Brian, played in the earlier films by the late Paul Walker), and Brie Larson as the daughter of the mysterious spy Mr. Nobody, played in the earlier films by Kurt Russell but not in this one — I predict that he will be back in part 2.

4. Stakes: The very qualities that make Momoa’s Dante a great movie villain ramps up the stakes in a way that some viewers may find uncomfortably, even distractingly, transcends the genre. Usually, in these films, the McGuffin concept is quickly explained as something critical our team needs to get away from the bad guys and then we’re on to the chase and explosions and jokes about Roman. And the bad guy usually wants something evil but rational, like money or world domination or revenge. But, as they say, “this time it’s personal.” When the villain is just in it to mess with everyone, to make things as emotionally devastating as possible, even the paper-thin characters, only slightly more fleshed out than the thingamabob everyone’s chasing after, we can’t help making an emotional connection that may interfere with the fun of the race and chase scenes.

5. There’s a surprise cameo I won’t spoil. And I don’t think anyone anticipated this one: “Fast X” features four Oscar winners, Brie Larson, Dame Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, and Charlize Theron, bringing their A game as always. I could happily see a whole movie about any of their characters and the way things are going, that just might happen.

Parents should know that this film includes non-stop peril, action, and violence with many (mostly faceless) unnamed characters injured and killed and large-scale mayhem with crashed cars, bombs, fire, and explosions. Characters use strong language (including a child), drink alcohol, and briefly use drugs.

Family discussion: How do Dom’s, Little B’s, Tess’s, and Dante’s relationships with their fathers affect their life choices? Should Dom have let Roman lead the group? Who would you pick for your found family?

If you like this, try: the entire “Fast and Furious” series

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3

Posted on May 3, 2023 at 11:56 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol, drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended sci-fi/action/comic book-style peril and violence
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	May 5, 2023
Date Released to DVD:	July 31, 2023

I guess it makes sense. Not the movie. Not even close. But the form = content notion that “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” the third in the series, is, like its characters a mess but a lovable and entertaining mess. By now it feels like it’s our mess. So, even though I couldn’t help imagining what Honest Trailers and Pitch Meeting are going to have so say about the very convoluted to the point of you’ve-got-to-be-kidding last 40 minutes or so and it’s well over two hours run time, I enjoyed it.

We already know something about the history of some of the characters. Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt) had an earth mother and an alien father and was taken from earth at age 8 by an intergalactic group of rogues and thieves called The Ravagers. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) were stolen from their families when their planets were annihilated by Thanos and then tortured and mutilated to turn them into assassins. But we don’t know much about Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and the tree-guy voiced by Vin Diesel.

In this chapter, we go back to Rocket’s origin story. Like Thanos’ adopted daughters and Wolverine and I’m sure lots of other fictional characters, he was operated on by a megalomaniacal villain trying to “perfect” the world. He is The High Evolutionary, played by Chukwudi Iwuji. He has already created worlds and destroyed them for not living up to his exacting standards of perfection. One of his worlds we saw briefly in the last GothG movie, with Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, leader of a world of spectacularly beautiful golden-hued creatures. In this film, he threatens to destroy that world unless Ayesha’s son, Warlock (Will Poulter), brings him Rocket. While the High Evolutionary is obsessed with the “improvements” he inflicts, somehow Rocket has gifts of intellect that the High Evolutionary did not create for him and he wants to understand and either copy that or destroy it.

The High Evolutionary’s experiments on Rocket and other animals were mechanical, replacing body parts with metal, so that they look Like the mutilated toys in Syd’s room in the first “Toy Story.” But it is in the adjoining cages that he finds his first family, led by the warm-hearted otter named Lylla. Rocket, using that exceptional capacity for engineering we have observed in the earlier films, manages to escape (including piloting a ship even though he has never even seen one before, much less been exposed to outer space or really anything outside of his prison).

This time, then, the Guardians are not saving the galaxy. At the beginning of the film they seem happily settled in Knowwhere with Cosmo the Soviet wonder dog, Mantis, the anntena-ed empath (Pom Klementieff), and former Ravager Kraglin (Sean Gunn). They have opened a bar. But the one doing all the drinking is Peter, who is still trying to drown his grief over the loss of Gamora. Nothing can get him to stop until Rocket is attacked. He is gravely injured and in order to save him the Guardians will need to retrieve a code to unlock a mechanism that prevents the necessary surgery and just 48 hours to do it. The Ravagers also get involved, and they now include a different version of Gamora brought back from the past who has no memory of her relationship with Peter.

There’s a hint of “Mission Impossible.” They’re even told that if they are caught, they will not be acknowledged as acting on behalf of the ruling body. And there’s a Zune vintage music player retrieved at the end of Vol 2 to follow the mix-tapes from the first two movies with some new songs for the soundtrack.

As noted, it does get messy. The group of misfit toys go off in different directions and it is hard to keep track of who is doing what where. A increasing problem with the Marvel movies is the way they keep using the stakes The High Evolutionary and Warlock have powers of near god-like magnitude. What can the Guardians do? It gets muddled. The High Evolutionary can do just about anything including creating and destroying worlds, but somehow cannot fight back from an attack with claws. There is a significant element to the story about the essential value of living beings who might not be considered “higher” life forms….until that is undermined later on. I said it was messy. As Peter said in the first one, “Something good, something bad? Bit of both.”

NOTE: Stay through the credits for two extra scenes

Parents should know that this film has extended peril and comic book/action-style violence with sometimes graphic and disturbing images. Characters are injured and killed. The film includes strong language, drinking and drunkenness.

Family discussion: Why is having a name so important? What does the name High Evolutionary mean and what does he think it means to be “perfect?” Why was the distinction about “higher forms” significant?

If you like this, try: the other “Guardians” movies

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Posted on March 30, 2023 at 5:22 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some language, fantasy action, and violence
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended fantasy action and violence, characters injured and killed, sad death of a parent
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	March 31, 2023

Hey, if the game is as fun as this movie, get me some 20-sided dice. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is an ebullient mix of fantasy, action, and comedy with a terrific cast, thrilling stunts and genuinely fantastic special effects.

We meet two of our heroes in prison (the dungeon part of the story). One is a talker and one is a fighter. The talker is Edgin (Chris Pine), a lute-player and a one-time spy for the good guys turned thief after his wife (Georgia Landers) was killed by the bad guys. He went on “one last” job to steal a magical tablet that could bring her back to life. But they were captured, and he had to leave his daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) with the con man of the group, the con man Forge (Hugh Grant, all smarmy smiles, with teeth so white they almost glow).

The fighter is Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), “a fellow resident of rock bottom,” fearless and easily able to dispatch various threats, human and non, individual and horde of attackers. They escape from the prison. They find that Forge has somehow, with the aid of a powerful sorceress (Daisy Head as Sofina) become a ruler, living with Kira in a castle. And he will not let her go. Forge has told Kira that her father abandoned her and she believes it.

And so, as in all epic journeys and of course in the Dungeons and Dragons game, there is a quest involving many steps and some more characters with distinctive special abilities. Edgin wants to get Kira and retrieve that tablet, which is now secured by sorcery in a vault below Forge’s castle. And that requires some additional help. Simon (Justice Smith) is a sorcerer of limited abilities who was formerly part of the group led by Edgin. And he leads them to shape-shifter Doric (Sophia Lillis), an Elvin-looking creature who can transform into anything from an insect to a gigantic creature described as an owl-bear.

Directors and co-screenwriters John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein deftly balance the action, emotion, and comedy. You think you’re in for some gruesome scares in a cemetery scene where corpses are dug up and re-animated, but it turns into one of the film’s funniest moments. And the most serious character, a classic handsome hero played by “Bridgerton’s” Regé-Jean Page deftly makes his serious and straightforward Arthurian honor and gallantry witty when seen through the eyes of the raffish band of thieves. Bradley Cooper shows up in a small role, funny and utterly charming. “Magic can’t fix everything,” a character warns more than once. But amovie with great characters, settings, special effects, excitement, heart, and humor can feel like magic and that’s good enough.

NOTE: Stay for a funny mid-credits extra scene.

Parents should know that this film has extensive fantasy-style peril and violence with many characters injured and killed, including a beloved wife and mother. Characters also use some strong language.

Family discussion: Which character would you most want with you on a quest and why? Try playing Dungeons and Dragons and create your own character.

If you like this, try: action comedies like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the 1973 “Three Musketeers”

John Wick: Chapter 4

Posted on March 19, 2023 at 4:23 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language and violence
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended and very graphic peril and violence, many characters injured and killed, disturbing and gory images
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	March 24, 2023
Date Released to DVD:	June 12, 2023

I will begin with a quote from another Keanu Reeves movie: “Whoa.”

“John Wick: Chapter 4,” almost twice as long as the original, is, like its three predecessors, non-stop action with just enough story and character to establish the stakes. And endless style. As important as the stunts, and reminder, this series was conceived by stunt coordinators, is the demimondaine, the world within a world it occupies. This is the world of assassins. They have their own rules, their own leaders, their own currency, their own telecommunications, a fascinating blend of high and low tech, and their own ultra-luxurious and ultra-discreet hotels. We will not worry about how they support themselves since most of their assassinating seems to be other members of their community, or why none of their chases and shoot-outs never attract anyone from law enforcement.

The rules are made and enforced by a group called The Table, and the person in charge is now an effete French Marquis (Bill Skarsgård just as creepy without the clown make-up as he was in “It”). He is always shown in the grandest possible settings, enjoying exquisite food, drink, art, and music.

And he has a hit out on John Wick. Many many hits out on John Wick.

That’s basically it. A lot of people are highly motivated to kill John Wick, and he goes to various places to avoid being killed and they keep coming after him and he keeps being the takes-a-licking-and-keeps-on-ticking John Wick we know and love.

The Marquis is more in the burn it all to the ground category. He de-sanctifies the Continental Hotel, the sanctuary for all Table-ers. This puts Winston (Keith David) back on John Wick’s side. Most of the intrigue in the film comes from the shifting realignments of the characters’ loyalties. We even get a glimpse of a backstory for John Wick, as he has to re-connect with his family to position himself to resolve things with the Table, permanently.

The Marquis has deployed a former colleague and friend to kill John Wick, the blind assassin Cane (a galvanizing performance by Donnie Yen). It is not about money; that would not be enough. It is the safety of Cane’s daughter. John Wick understands and even respects that. The fights with the two of them are simply spectacular and there is one falling down the steps scene that is an instant classic.

There is a new character in this film who almost steals the movie. He says he is nobody, and that is the only name he has. He has a dog sidekick. Somehow he can find John Wick when no one else has any idea where he is. And he is dazzlingly played by Shamier Anderson. Spin-off, please.

There are many striking locations. There are so so many fight scenes, featuring guns, knives, bigger guns, cars, nunchucks, martial arts, old-school punching, and swords, often combined. And an attack dog. Like all the best action/stunt scenes, they are choreographed like a ballet, even down to the spurts of blood. Even at almost three hours, the franchise has the combination of exciting stunts, expertly paced (if contrary to the laws of physics and, well, reality — and look out for that fall down the steps) and the intriguing world the characters occupy makes this all the fans could wish for.

NOTE: Stay through the credits for an extra scene.

Parents should know that this film is about assassins. There is non-stop action and peril with many characters injured and killed, including major characters, and gory, disturbing images, plus strong language

Family discussion: Why did John Wick want to be known as “loving husband?” What do you think is the meaning of “such is life?” If the series continues, who should be in the next chapter?

If you like this, try: the other John Wick movies and the Matrix series