Movie Review - Spider-man: Homecoming

Spider-man: Homecoming

Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, and more.

Directed by: Jon Watts Screenplay by: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers Based on the Comic Book by: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Cinematography by: Salvatore Totino Music by: Michael Giacchino

Premise: After getting a new suit and helping out during the Civil War, Peter is dying to help again. Unfortunately, he's not getting any callbacks. But he makes do by going out every night and helping people where he can. But after tangling with a group of robbers using alien technology, he's told to stay out of it. But Peter can't let it go. (Rated  PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Tom Holland does a nice job as Peter Parker. Michael Keaton did a fresh and cold spin on Adrian Toomes to great effect.  (His talk on the way to the prom and his picking up on things was almost creepy!) Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau brought some lovely additional dimensions to the story. Nice work by all parties.
Additional kudos to Jacob Batalon. He was adorable as Peter's friend. He brought a lot to the film as well.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The special effects department was kept very busy in the movie. They came up with some neat human and alien technology hybrids - vulture's gear is a prime example. Toomes looked creepy in the mask and glowing green eyes. Brrr.

Tony's Spider-man suit was fab! More gadgets and gizmos than James Bond. Wait till you see all the awesome ways Tony has given him to use his web thrower. The suit is just too cool!

The cutter machine at the bank, the shock puncher, and the phase gadgets were excellent. If Toomes had been a little less messed up in the head, he could have helped bring some super amazing advances to the world.

The ferry scene and the Washington Monument scenes were great. The destruction at the bank and the deli were well done, and we even get bus wars! The group looked to have had a lot of fun with the Stark plane as well. There were some terrific bits in that sequence. Tons of neat stuff for out viewing pleasure.

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: They started the movie right - with a mutated version of the cartoon theme song! Booyah! It got me right in the mood. :) Then the beginning sequence (shaky cam, but not for long - yay!) where we see Peter picked up and taken to join Tony and the others in Civil War.  Priceless!

With six people credited for the screenplay, I was amazed it came out so good. Toomes motivation wasn't well grounded but wasn't bad enough to be jarring. No way he didn't make a ton of cash from his illegal sales. You'd think he would have saved some. :P

Tons and tons and tons of adorable moments. (Guy in a chair!) The introduction of the Captain America tapes was a genius idea! This is especially so because they take the gag all the way to the end of the credits! (So stay until he shows! :P) I laughed myself silly at the last one. :P The comments from teachers and others in different parts of the movie were also rather humorous and came up when you least expected them.

I was a little puzzled that they decided to make Peter fifteen years old. That seemed a little young. Plus he didn't look fifteen. Seventeen would have been much more believable, and he would have still had all the same problems. :P Spidey is super tough, so his getting knocked out by a small tap at one point seemed a little convenient, but it was a minor nitpick.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: CGI mixed with real stunt work gave the audience all sorts of fun to enjoy.

5) Music - Total Thumbs Up: Like I mentioned before - Michael Giacchino had me at the groovy version of the original 1967 Spiderman cartoon's theme music. Some snazzy tracks and great action tracks. It added to the enjoyment of the film.

Conclusion: This Spider-man reboot is well worth seeing. All the small and fun moments truly make it a delicious film. Great effects and cool gadgets are 'frosting on the cake'. :)

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Movie Review - Jack Reacher: Never Look Back

Jack Reacher: Never Look Back

Starring: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Aldis Hodge, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany, Madalyn Horcher, Robert Catrini, and more.

Directed by: Edward Zwick Screenplay by: Richard Wenk, Edward Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz Based on the novel by: Lee Child Cinematography by: Oliver Wood Music by: Henry Jackman

Premise: Jack starts having phone conversations with Major Turner after a successful sting. He invites her to dinner and makes his way to D.C. to meet her face to face. When he gets there, however, he finds out she's been removed from her post. She's been placed in jail while waiting to be tried for treason. Something about this doesn't seem right. Reacher becomes sure of it when he finds himself being tailed. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Tom Cruise reprises his role as the loner, ex-military man, Jack Reacher. As always, he's a lot of fun to watch. Love all his little telltale expressions. Getting caught between Turner and Samantha made for a lot of amusing scenes. Cobie Smulders as Turner had some nice back and forth chemistry with Tom. Both characters are quite set in their ways and are a bit like mixing oil and water. Making the mix even more chaotic is Danika Yarosh who plays Samantha. Her character reflects facets of both of the two as they all go on the run. 

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: This is an action film, so bullets and explosions are pretty much a must. Great job by the special effects team on all of them. Especially memorable was the scene at the warf. A ton of lead flying everywhere! 

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: I've not read the Jack Reacher book the film is based on, so apologies for not being able to give any opinions between the two. I have read one of the other books and enjoyed it quite a bit! Just need to find time to read more. :)

For once the previews did not reveal all! There's an added and unexpected element thrown into the plot they didn't give away. This added a different dynamic which for ends up prodding Reacher out of his comfort zone. While this particular complication is not new in the plot world, it made for a nice surprise. Especially since sneakily kept it out of the previews. Yay!

Action films do tend to let a few things slide so things will work out how they want. So there are a couple of bits. Sticky details like stewardesses and airport security. But they blank them out in such a way you don't realize it for the most part.

The pace is fast and slows down very little throughout. 

Samantha is super street savvy yet also conveniently clueless. But it's so much fun watching Jack having to deal with the unexpected situation that it's easy to ignore the convenient manipulation. 

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: The film has lots of lovely hand to hand fights and on foot chase scenes. Major kudos for the kitchen fight scene. The rooftop chase/fight was painful and awesome! 

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Lots of nice cinematography. Loved the wide overhead shots of Turner and Reacher running in several scenes. New Orleans was a great venue for the last section of the film. Especially with the Halloween parade and fireworks. The closeup shots, especially during the last scenes, made them even more poignant.

Conclusion: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a fun ride. Full of mayhem and chaos, we get a lot of action scenes and close combat. Watching Jack squirm emotionally though? Priceless. :)

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

Movie Review - London Has Fallen

London Has Fallen

Starring: Gerard Butler, Alon Aboutboul, Waleed Zuaiter, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Morgan Freeman, Mehdi Dehbi, Colin Salmon, Jackie Earle Haley, Charlotte Riley, and many more.

Directed by: Babak Najafi Screenplay by: Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Christian Gudegast, and Chad St. John Story by: Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt Cinematography by: Ed Wild Music by: Trevor Morris

Premise: With his wife pregnant and the baby almost due, Mike Banning is seriously considering leaving the secret service. Before he can send his resignation, he's called back from vacation when the unexpected death of the Prime Minister forces the White House to make hasty plans to attend the funeral. Unfortunately, someone circuitously arranged the death in order to get the world's top leaders in the same city to enact their revenge for a drone strike two years before. Once again, Mike must do his utmost to keep the President of the United States alive and in one piece even as London falls around them. (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Gerard Butler reprises his role as tough secret service agent Mike Banning. It is lots of fun watching him go from easy going, worried parent to be, to cold and efficient secret service agent. Alon Aboutboul treads the line nicely between monster and wronged parent. Waleed Zuaiter also gives a good performance as the spearhead of his father's revenge. Aaron Eckhart has some lovely repartee with Gerard Butler and eloquently shows his civilian, father, and president faces, even digging deep to emulate the calm of those trying to protect him. Wished they'd done a little more with Colin Salmon though - have been loving his work on the TV series Limitless. :)

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: There are a ton of special effects in the film. London has explosions at multiple locations - so they get to destroy several historical parts of the city (and it's not even Dr. Who or Christmas!). :P Most of the explosions were nicely done. A lot of the collateral damage from the concussions blasts was very well done.  Showing us several of the locations at the end undergoing "repairs" was a nice touch and added to the believability factor.

A ton of bullets fly in all manner of places. Grenades, rocket launches, stinger missiles, and more make an appearance. There are chase scenes on foot, in vehicles, with motorcycles - and close up fights inside buildings - all of them with bullets flying everywhere!

The helicopter scenes were also quite nice. Can't say too much though. Wouldn't want to spoil the fun. :)

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: This is an action and shoot 'em up film so you shouldn't expect too much from the plot. They did set it up nicely - giving some backstory on the bad guys to justify the extremes taken (even if it was rather cliche). (Amazing how it's okay to do things to others, but suddenly it's bad when it happens to you!) They gave us a look at Mike's normal life and his relationship with the president so we got a feel for them as people (and also eliminates the need to have seen the first film to enjoy this one). They even put Mike at a crossroads as he's trying to figure out what he should do now that he's about to become a parent for the first time. (This makes for a lovely and touching scene with the president deep in the film.) Family, parenting, and choices are big themes in the film.

The setup and execution of the Big Plan seemed well thought out. You have to love it when the mastermind is surprised when things actually go his way on almost all counts. :) (Most real plans hardly ever go off without a hitch.) :P There were other little details that were subtle but well thought out and gave some heft to the story (like the French President purposely delaying his arrival as a small political slight to the Brits - not that it helped him any!) And some actually funny moments - as the characters attempt to defuse the seriousness of their situation.

The only hang ups for me were the population and possibly the depth of the infiltration. Some of the cops and other service people could have been easily inserted with the proper uniforms and fake IDs (something the mole had access to) especially as an occasion such as this would have brought many precincts together that would not necessarily know each other. But the infiltration of men into the Queen's Guard was harder to swallow.

The city of London is a super crowded metropolis - one which would have had tens of thousands of people crowding the streets for blocks around for the funeral.  Yet they seemed to disappear rather quickly, despite the fact rapid transit had no power and most would have been stuck there with no place to go except the subway stations or a pub. (Would have made for a lot more trouble and collateral damage, so I can see why they fidged there - especially for the subway scenes!)

Oh and one other big cliche/warning sign - if the characters are in a vehicle and think they got through something bad and start congratulating themselves for surviving, this is a screaming clue a car/truck/bus is about to hit them from the side. lol. Mike Banning would know better. :P

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Stunts, stunts, and more stunts! The chase scenes were great. Some new ways to get rid of pursuers on motorcycles. Heh heh. 

Loads of lovely hand to hand combat scenes and shooting scenes. Loved the detail given to what gun Mike used when making his way in the final building - switching from an AK-47 to his .45 and back again depending on where he was and how much room he had. Nicely done!

Another lovely scene was Mike and the cavalry making their way down the street towards the building full of bad guys: shots, rockets, burning cars galore yet the group moved in smooth precision, shooting, taking cover, crisscrossing each other, moving ever forward. Loved it!

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The film had several unusual and neat shots here and there. Air Force One gliding over a long field of clouds, the gorgeous location for Aamir Barkawi's compound, the long shot of the park after the helicopter has come down, aerial shots of different parts of London and many of its landmarks. Locations for the film were in the UK, Bulgaria, and Romania. 

Conclusion: London Has Fallen sets up the scene and then dives into the action like a rollercoaster down a steep hill. Lots of great chase scenes and close quarter combat. Even tries to rouse some American pride! :P

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Spectre

Spectre

Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Andrew Scott, Monica Bellucci, Dave Bautista, Rory Kinnear, Alessandro Cremona, Jesper Christensen, and more.

Directed by: Sam Mendes Screenplay by: John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth Story by: John Logan, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade Based on Characters Created by: Ian Fleming

Premise: Though put on suspension, James continues to pursue an unofficial case left for him by M upon her death. The deeper he goes, the stranger the case gets, especially when he comes across documents relating to his dead foster family. All this on the cusp on the double O program being merged with MI5 and a huge push to get all countries to share information between intelligence agencies. Worse, all of it might be connected. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Daniel Craig once more reprises his role as James Bond 007. As always, he is quite smooth. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Ben Whishaw do great work as M, Moneypenny, and Q. It was lovely to see the last two get some play! Andrew Scott was nice and slimy as C. Christoph Waltz created quite a presence as Oberhauser. Léa Seydoux also did a great job as the unwilling Dr. Swann.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Cool gadgets, explosions, planes, loads of fun treats from the special effects team. The prop plane scenes were very reminiscent of the Roger Moore period. The facility in the desert harkened back to the Sean Connery period as well. A lot of subliminal homage seemed to be going on. Very nice!

Super kudos on the whole "Day of the Dead" celebration in Mexico. The parade scene and the super cool floats were outstanding! The girls with the turning dresses almost appeared to be floating along. (Hiding Segways underneath perhaps?) :)

3) Story - Thumbs Up: The film starts with a sentence - "The dead are alive" and aptly starts on the "Day of the Dead". The entire film uses this theme in a myriad of ways. It also ends up tying together all the previous Daniel Craig films as pieces of a greater whole, and a much larger threat to the world than any of them ever imagined.

But more than just Daniel's films got represented. There were a ton of tiny moments or bits paying homage to many of the previous Bond films as well. The way the prop plane was used, the thug Hinx, who was very reminiscent of Jaws in Moonraker, and more.

While the mini mission starting the film was definitely awesome, a couple of things were odd. The main being why James hit the helicopter pilot when the man was unarmed and a plaza full of people lay below, especially since the pilot was the only one keeping it in the air. Later, yes, he needed to hit him, but when he had his hands full with another man at the beginning? It was odd.

The way Christoph Waltz is introduced in glances and bits was very well played. The entire scene in the meeting in Rome was fantastic and said so much about the man, without him actually doing a lot. Later, his character is diluted a little, his explanation for his involvement and interest in James pushed as the reason he's done certain things, yet, not quite fitting with everything. His main scheme was evident, but the group's ultimate goal? Not so much. Or at least what was presented didn't seem enough? I could have missed something though.

Madeleine Swann was fun. Unexpected things for her and James in the film - the past once more affecting the future. What was funny is how much is given away during the beginning song! Almost a trailer in its own right. lol. (Heck the title song "Writing on the Wall" also seemed to be an in-joke as you'll note on a wall towards the end!)

One more bit of fun - Moneypenny, Q, and the new M get a bit of action too! Nice to see them get involved. (And that Moneypenny is NOT waiting for James. heh heh.)

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Lots of hand to hand combat, car chases, car crashes, airplanes, helicopters, and more! The stunt department was kept very busy. Shaky cam came into play during the foot chase in Mexico, but thankfully it didn't last long and not really used again during the rest of the film. Yay!

Loved the fight scenes on the train! Talk about destruction and beat up stunts! This fight also has elements which will remind you of the Roger Moore James Bond films.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The film has bits all over the world, so a ton of different locals are used -- Mexico, Italy, Austria, Morocco, England.

As I mentioned earlier, the "Day of the Dead" celebration in Mexico City was fabulous! The cinematography took full advantage of the parade as well as all the other locations. The giant scope of some of the scenery were perfect for grandiose sweeps to feed the eyes.

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: They totally had me on the "Day of the Dead" sequence - the costumes and masks were totally awesome. Jame's costume is the one you see in the back on the movie poster, making several layered in-jokes since James is an assassin and therefore death, but also merges well with the name of the evil organization. :P Check out the cool dresses and the painted skeleton parts on the ladies, and the nice suits for the men. Loved that whole section!

Conclusion: "Spectre" is full of all the things we love about James Bond - lots of action, foreign  locals, cars, guns, and more. A nice ending to a long, unexpected story arc are things are brought together.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

Movie Review - The Transporter Refueled

The Transporter Refueled

Starring: Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson, Loan Chabanol, Gabriella Wright, Tatiana Pajkovic, Wenxia Yu, Radivoje Bukvic, Noémi Lenoir, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Lenn Kudrjawizki, Samir Guesmi, and more.

Directed by: Camille Delamarre Written by: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, and Luc Besson Based on Characters Created by: Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen Cinematography by: Christophe Collette Music by: Alexandre Azaria Stunt Coordinator: Laurent Demianoff Fight Choreographer: Alain Figlarz Car Stunt Coordinator: Michel Julienne

Premise: Hoping to spend some time with his newly retired father, Frank's plans take a detour after he ends up taking an impromptu job. Matters turn for the worse when he finds out his new client has decided she wants insurance, and kidnaps his father as leverage. The three rules no longer apply. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Not as meaty as Statham, Ed Skrein still has the scruffy look and the attitude we've come to associate so well with regards to the Transporter movie franchise. Chris Vance is a more devonaire Transporter (from the TV series) - so Skrein fits neatly somewhere between the two. It's been fun watching their different interpretations of the same character.

Ray Stevenson was quite entertaining as Frank's father. He had way too much fun in the film - almost like he'd gone on holiday. Lol. Loan Chabanol had great chemistry with Skrein and the camera. Throughout the film you could see her admiration of the man she's hired and coerced grow. Lovely side glances from her.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: What do we go see Transporter films for? The car chases, the hand-to-hand combat, the gun play, and if we're lucky, explosions! The film hit high marks on all these and more.

My favorite special effect had to be the driving maneuver that involved four different fire hydrants. A truly innovative move and with a touch of CGI and camera play it looked awesome. The way Frank disposes of one of his cars and then the trigger device made for some neat fireworks. The gun battle on the boat and all the exploding bullet damage was surreal.

3) Plot/Story - Neutral: Several people involved with the film have also been involved with some of the other films and even TV episodes. So the beginning scene is a familiar one for the Transporter franchise. There's always someone wanting to mess with Frank or his car in the parking garage. They never learn, but does make for a great mood setter.

There are a lot of other signature moments here and there in the film, so there's a lot of fun to be had by fans. And while no one expects this type of film to be highbrow, it was a little odd how on some things the writing was very bad, while on other things it was good.

So this will be one of those films to go see for the visuals, and leaving the little grey cells at home.

The first mistake has to do with the job itself. Even though the bad guy knew Frank in his army days, it seems odd he'd know Frank had become the Transporter, especially as Frank keeps his identity as secret as possible. And from the bad blood between them, I doubt Frank would have ever taken a job from them man or told him about his post army work.

The second would be the timing. From the girls you get the feeling they've been working up to this plan for years. But even assuming she knew who the Transporter was, there's no way Anna would have known anything about his father and when he was retiring/visiting early enough to incorporate him into her plan in this manner.

The third was making such determined ladies, who want nothing more than to leave the life, suddenly throwing themselves all over both Franks. It somewhat belittled all the trouble and the gazillion risks they'd been taking to put this plan together.

There's more booboos, but I will leave those to you to find. :) (Or to ignore. heh heh)

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: The stunt department worked their buns off! Lots of car chases with a ton of imaginative car flips and crashes. You'll find yourself cringing at some of these, they look so nasty! Flips, flops, head on collisions, they've got it all!

Then we get into the hand-to-hand combat! Some quick camera moves here and there, but otherwise it's all right there for us to see. And Frank uses the tools he knows best - his car, his fists, and sticks. I utterly adored the fight down a small corridor with a wall of drawers on both sides. Talk about close quarters! And ingenuity too!

Big kudos to the stuntmen themselves as we see several motorcycle wipeouts and men skidding across the streets and into tables. They make it look so easy! :P

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Shot in France, we get lots of gorgeous shots of Nice and Paris. Nice truly looks like an amazing place to visit for sure. :)

Conclusion: While keeping to the high standards of driving, stunt work, and hand-to-hand we've become accustomed to in the Transporter Movies and TV series, the plot could have used a little help. But if you ignore those bits, you're in for a fun and action packed ride.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)