Adventure – We Are Movie Geeks

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH – Review

Director James Cameron is back with a third installment of his AVATAR franchise, which continues to deliver astounding visual effects and world-creation at the highest level. In the first film, a human expedition looking for resources to extract is sent to world called Pandora, a place with an un-breathable atmosphere and inhabited by tall, blue, technologically less-advanced people, dispatches a Marine, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), in the form of an avatar that looks like the forest-living Na’vi people, to learn more about them. But after falling in love with a Na’vi warrior woman, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), Jake switches sides and leads a rebellion against the humans. The second film takes place some 15 years later, as Jake, wife Neytiri and their kids hide out from the human among some beach-dwelling peoples, pursued by Jake’s nemesis and fellow Marine, Quaritch (Stephen Lang). This third one, AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, takes place shortly after that second film.

The main reason to see AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, are the spectacular visual effects and it’s breathtaking world-building. The 3D visual effects are immersive and beautiful, with one breathtaking vista after another. AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH continues to astonish with innovative visual effects that combine motion-capture and digital effects, like the first film, and now including 3D like the second one, but the effects are even more fully integrated, allowing one to entirely be enveloped by its imaginary world. The impressive effects even continue in the scenes with regular non-CGI or motion-capture actor, creating a seamlessly believable world.

Since the outstanding visual effects are the major reason to see this film, the best way to do that is in a theater, on a big screen with 3D capability. If you watch it on a small screen at home or on a phone, you will be missing out most of the reason to see it at all.

The reason why that matters so much is, despite all that visual effect artistry and technical dazzle, the characters and story do not reach that same high level, remaining familiar figures from a classic hero’s tale, with the addition of a historical tale of a colonial or corporate power moving in on a less-technological indigenous one. These indigenous people are aided greatly by that fellow who switched sides, which sets up a David and Goliath / underdog tale.

Action is plentiful and looks great but the story adds more and more characters without expanding on the ones already there. The main characters remain underdeveloped, being either noble good guys or evil bad ones. The story focuses on battles and those breathtaking new vistas but that can hold audience interest forever.

The effects are 3D but the characters remain 2D. It is not the fault of the cast, but the writer. The characters are written to be simple: Worthington’s Jake is noble and brave, Saldana’s Neytiri is emotional and protective, Stephen Lang as Jake’s enemy is relentless, while Giovanni Ribisi’s corporate boss is greedy and heartless. If the story is familiar, the audience has to care about the people in the story to maintain interest, and that means making them more real, more rounded and full-developed.

This story introduces new peoples on Pandora, with peaceful trading peoples who travel through the air in ships attached to blip-like floating creatures. There is another, less peaceful group too, the raiders/pirates known as the Ash People, who prey on the traders and others less warlike folk.

Quaritch, now also using an avatar body, sets out to make contact the war-like Ash People, with the aim of forming an alliance. He hits it off with the Ash People’s fierce, fearless, blood-thirsty queen Varang (a splendid Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin), and a deal is struck.

Meanwhile, Jake struggles with getting the Na’vi and water-based Metkayina Clan to consider using human weapons that he retrieved from the water after the last battle, rather than just bows and arrows. Jake and Neytiri, in addition to their own kids, have adopted two more: Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the Na’vi child of the avatar of the scientist played by Sigourney Weaver in the first AVATAR, and a human boy nicknamed Spider (Jack Champion), the biological son of Jake’s enemy Quaritch, who needs a special mask to breath the air, a mask that has to be continually replenished to keep him alive.

Stephen Lang’s Quaritch and Oona Chaplin’s Ash queen are by far the most interesting in this one, but if left undeveloped, will just join the crowd of cookie-cutter characters. The story is packed with action and battles and so full of twists (and new characters) that there isn’t much time to do much with this growing cast of characters anyway. But failing to develop the characters beyond the two-dimensional means that maintaining interest in the familiar tropes of this tale will become increasingly challenging.

Reportedly, director/writer James Cameron has two more of these visual effects extravaganzas in the planning stage but unless he starts creating depth to this characters to sustain this hero tale, he is likely to see waning audience interest, something already underway. It can’t just be pretty pictures.

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

LAST RONIN – Review

In old Japan, Ronin were Samurai without masters, roaming the land on their own, yet mostly still living by their code of honor. Their status and role in society varied through the centuries, but the lone wandering warrior image persists, and has been glorified in dozens of films from Japan and elsewhere. The anachronistically-title THE LAST RONIN is a bare-bones post-apocalyptic adventure from Russia. Yuri Kolokolnikov stars as the eponymous figure – a grizzled older fellow, looking somewhat like Ron Perlman, traveling alone through the desert hellscape. The katana (sword) on his back is the most important of his few possessions. We learn that his main reason for living is to find the guy what kilt his pappy and wreak vengeance upon him.

He’s approached by a tough young woman (Diana Enkaeva) who wants to hire him as a bodyguard. She offers to pay in bullets, which is the main form of currency in that dismal future. Her goal is reaching a wall that’s a long trek away from the enclave in which she was raised. We gradually learn why she left shortly before the end of their sojourn. Along the way, they run afoul of a marauding gang and a few other menaces scattered around this low-tech, scarce-resources, sparsely populated era.

Everything about their world and the production is minimalist. There’s a lot of bleakness in the environment and the lives being lived therein. But writer/director Max Shiskin sprinkles in a satisfying amount of violence – mostly blades, arrows and bullets, with bits of martial arts – to contrast with the stars’ dreary slog. The final act takes some surprising turns when an unexpected (by them and us) destination is reached.

The underplayed performances of the principals work well in defining the milieu and their resulting personalities. This matters, since most of the foes they encounter are faceless or anonymous, putting the dramatic load squarely on their shoulders. It’s something like a MAD MAX world, but far less noisy and flashy. No extant vehicles to be found, and the weapons du jour are simpler.

The closer our world leaders come to blundering and blustering us into this sort of future, the more tales in this genre seem like training films than fantasies. Alas.

THE LAST RONIN, in Russian and some French with English subtitles, debuts in digital formats on various platforms on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, from Well Go USA.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Review

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES continues the “Planet of the Apes” science fiction saga that was rebooted from 1968’s THE PLANET OF THE APES with Charleton Heston into a trilogy that started with RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The last two films in that trilogy, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, directed by Matt Reeves and starring the great motion-capture actor Andy Serkis as lead ape Caesar, reached soaring, almost Shakespearean, storytelling heights, while also wowing audiences with the realism of its technically advanced motion-capture acting and special effects.

That’s a hard act to follow, but KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES does not even try to match the heights reached in the last two “Apes” movies, instead offering more of a coming-of-age and hero’s journey adventure tale set several hundred years after the last of that previous trilogy.

Gone are both director Matt Reeves and the great Andy Serkis, but KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES still delivers an entertaining action-adventure tale in the “Planet of the Apes” world.

Wes Ball, who helmed the MAZE RUNNER trilogy, directs and the story features all new characters. The film is filled with excellent world-building for the apes’ post-human environment or vine-covered human-built ruins, and even more impressive and technically advanced motion-capture,. Unlike the 1968 original, the actors do not wear masks or make-up but gear for advanced motion-capture technology, which films and translates the actors’ performance, their facial expressions and movements, on to digitally-created apes, with even more incredible detail and subtle effect than in previous films using mo-cap. From a technical aspect, this film is incredible.

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES returns us to once again explore the world where enhanced apes and diminished humans battle for the dominance. In the previous trilogy, a lab-created virus gone wrong gives apes the power of speech and enhanced intelligence, while it kills off humans and leaves the remaining humans without speech and mentally diminished. In that trilogy, it was the human’s world that the apes lived in, but now things are reversed and it is the apes’ world that humans inhabit.

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is a coming-of-age story, in which a young ape goes on an unexpected adventure of discovery, revealing long-forgotten history and hidden secrets. In this future time, Caesar (the ape leader of the previous films) is a distant, barely-remembered figure. This world is filled with little villages of apes – chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans – who have formed their own clans, and are going about their peaceful low-tech lives in the vine-covered shadow the remains of the human built environment. Humans themselves are are largely absent, a rarely seen wild animal – mute, feral and dim-witted – who are so scarce they are almost mythic. In the village of the Eagle Clan, they are called “echos.”

After a brief scene of the funeral of Caesar, we leap forward several hundred years. Noa (Owen Teague) is a young chimpanzee in the leafy village of the Eagle Clan, the son of the clan leader who is also the trainer and guardian of the clan’s eagles, which help them with hunting. Noa and his friends Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham), are approaching their coming-of-age ceremony, where they will get their own eagle, but first they must climb steep cliffs to steal the eagle eggs from the precariously perched nests. Noa is a brave and skilled climber, but his jokester friend Anaya less so, yet both boys are encouraged by enthusiastic adventure girl Soona. Noa is bold but he is also the one who reminds the others to remember the rules – the laws – of their traditional village, laws based on the teaching of Caesar. Noa has high standards for himself, and tries hard to please his somewhat intimidating father.

As the young apes eagerly await the ceremony that marks their entry into adulthood, tragedy strikes, Their village is attacked by a strange group of apes, who often invoke the name “Caesar” during their brutal attack. The attack propels Noa onto a journey, one which leads to new discoveries that upend his view of the world.

Along the way, Noa encounters a quirky, erudite and talkative orangutan named Raka (a delightful Peter Macon), who is the last of group devoted to keeping the memory and teachings of Caesar alive. Raka tells Noa many surprising things and also shows kindness to a human woman who has been following Noa, dubbing her Nova. As Noa’s journey continues, we eventually learn that the attackers were followers of a gorilla named Proximus (Kevin Durand), who styles himself the new Caesar and the king of the apes.

Further description risks spoilers, but there are twists and surprises ahead, an upending Noa’s idea of the world, and a pointing to a new direction for the series, leaving a door open to, possibly, another trilogy.

Although Caesar is a distant figure, almost a legend, his presence dominates throughout the film. There are some impressive action sequences, starting with the one where the young friends are trying to steal eggs from eagles’ nests. The feel of the film is more like the director’s MAZZ RUNNER series but it works for this hero’s tale adventure. Still, the journey part gets off the a rather slow start and things drag a bit before a turn when the travelers encounter more apes, and the film again sags a bit later on before launching into its final, thrilling action sequence.

Character development is not as complex as in the last two Apes films, but that is not surprising for a hero’s journey adventure tale. However, the acting is very good and further advances in the mo-cap technology make the detail and nuances of expression on the digital apes’ faces breathtaking at times.

The cast is very good, starting with Owen Teague as Noa. Andy Serkis, who very much invented mo-cap acting, starting with his role as Gollum in the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, actually coached Teague for this role, and also worked with some of the other actors as well. All the actors had to participate in training in ape movements, although these apes, as they advance in language, also tend more to walk upright like humans as they rapidly evolve.

The amazingly convincing translation from the actors face to that of a digital ape is more impressive than if they were playing some kind of made-up alien, as we all know well what apes look like, making the risk of either images that ring false or enter the “uncanny valley” a higher possibility. But the technical work is outstanding, and one of the joys of the film.

Acting is strong throughout, with nice work particularly from Kevin Durand as the smooth-talking, self-styled king Proximus, and the very entertaining Peter Macon, who adds a needed droll humor.

But the standout in this adventure film is the technical side, which is a joy. While not reaching the heights of the previous trilogy, the sequel/reboot KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES delivers enough satisfying adventure entertainment on its own, with new characters and an open door to new directions set it up well for a new trilogy, creating a little intrigue but not leaving things unfinished

THE KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES opens Friday, May 10, in theaters

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

LA CHIMERA – Review

*Josh O’Connor in LA CHIMERA. Photo credit: Simona Pampaollona. Courtesy of Neon*

In Alice Rohrwacher’s Felliniesque tragicomic adventure tale LA CHIMERA, an English archaeologist-turned-tomb raider named Arthur (Josh O’Connor) leads a merry band of grave robbers who plunder ancient Etruscan tombs, eking out a meager living selling the stolen artifacts to collectors. Arthur is a haunted man, mourning his lost love, and caught up in recurring memories of their last moments together.

The tomb-raiding gives LA CHIMERA a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe, but while Arthur appears to be a trained archaeologist, he is not working for university nor is he a professor. Instead, he is what archaeologists call a “pot-hunter” plundering archaeological sites for grave goods he can sell for profit. And this grave-robbing is by no means lucrative, as he lives in a shack he built from cast off items, in the shadow of an aqueduct, and carousing with his hard-drinking band of petty thief pals, existing on the edge of Italian society. How he got there or why he stays isn’t clear but it seems to be wrapped up in his pining for the lost Beniamina and a love of Etruscan artifacts that he can’t otherwise satisfy.

Rohrwacher is happy to leave this a mystery, which draws us into this magical, dreamy story. LA CHIMERA has the feel of magical realism to it, and dream and fantasy often blend with reality so that it is sometime hard to tell what is real. The film is the third in a loosely-defined trilogy, with “The Wonders” and “Happy as Lazzaro.” When this story takes place is also vague, perhaps some time after WWII, but certainly not the present.

Arthur uses a dowsing rod in finding the hidden tombs but really seems guided by an otherworldly sense that connects him to the graves and causes him to often collapse when he gets close. Arthur is a man of two worlds, a kind of chimera, searching for something he can never find. Images and memories of his lost love Beniamina (Yile Vianello) fill his dreams. In his sorrow, he visits her mother Flora (Isabella Rossellini), a former opera star living in a crumbling mansion. The imperious but nearly-wheelchair bound Flora who ekes out her living teaching singing to student she treats like servants. Flora is hoping for the return of her favorite daughter and Arthur tells Flora he is still searching for her Beniamina, even though it appears he knows she’s dead.

The tomb-raiders face a number of obstacles beyond just finding the ancient tombs. They have to avoid arrest by the authorities for their grave-robbing, but also evade fellow grave robbers. The main fence for their plundered treasures is a shady mobster who represents a threat in itself, and there is a villain who adds to the adventure tale excitement.

Director/writer Alice Rohrwacher weaves a magical, almost fable-like tale, in this magical film, as she takes us on a series of adventures. The film is filled with wonderful performances, particularly the lead Josh O’Connor, breaking out from his role in “The Crown” series as the young Prince Charles to movie leading man, and Isabella Rossellini brilliant and funny as a sharp-tongued former opera diva. While Rohrwacher takes us on adventures, her film returns to the sad, lost Arthur, in scenes sometimes moving us from this world to that of the dead, until finally delivering us to just the right ending.

LA CHIMERA opens Friday, Apr. 12, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY – Review

*(L-R): Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.*

Indy’s back, in a new chapter that is a throw-back to that original Steven Spielberg RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK that hooked us to begin with. While Harrison Ford returns as archaeologist/adventurer Indiana Jones, along with a bunch of other Spielberg characters from the first one (along with some new ones), and this is the final film in the series and a farewell to Ford as the character, Spielberg does not direct INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. Fear not, director James Mangold (FERRARI VS FORD) seamlessly captures the Spielberg vibe. You’d never know if you didn’t look at the credits. Plus, the story is still by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, with a screenplay by co-written by Mangold, Jez Butterworth, David Koepp and John-Henry Butterworth.

James Mangold may be less well known that Spielberg but he has a string of excellent films to his credit, including LOGAN, the 310 TO YUMA remake, and GIRL, INTERRUPTED. While the original RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was gangbusters, a film that hearkened back to 1940s adventure films, the Indiana Jones sequels that followed were more a mixed bag, with some better than others. This final Indiana Jones movie recaptures some of the original’s magic.

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY is a wonderful farewell to the role for Harrison Ford, who is no longer the young thing he was in the 1981 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Unlike other Indy sequels, this one acknowledges that passage of time, and even makes it work for the story. The film opens with a fabulous flashback sequence, that takes us back to the early days, battling Nazis who are looting archaeological treasures.

Harrison Ford plays the part as the young Indy thanks to some impressive visual sampling, motion-capture and other special effects. The result is so effective, it is thrilling, even awe-inspiring, and worth the price of admission alone.

Actually, Harrison Ford, young or old, alone is worth the price of admission; he is that good . Going back to the ’40s lets this Indiana Jones movie do something that is always a mark of a good one in the series – have Indy punch Nazis. Having Harrison Ford play the part, instead of a younger actor playing Ford playing the part, is part of the fun, thanks to modern movie magic.

Late in WWII, Indiana Jones, disguised in a Nazi uniform, and his fellow archaeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) infiltrate a Nazi operation that is smuggling art and archaeological treasures back to the Reich. The Nazi in charge of this operation is looking for a certain item rumored to have mystical powers but a young Nazi scientist Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen, also de-aged) alerts him to an object with more impressive power, the Archimedes Dial (inspired by, and resembling, a real-life archaeological treasure, the Antikythera mechanism). Fights and a thrilling chase onboard a racing train ensues, as Indy and the Nazi scientist struggle for control of the object.

After the flashback, the story moves to 1969, where an older Indy (Ford) is jolted out of bed – in just his boxer shorts – by a blast of rock music and a parade celebrating the moon landing just outside the window of his little big-city apartment. We see Harrison Ford, in all his craggy glory, as the older Indy, long past his adventuring days and actually getting ready to retire from his job as professor of archaeology But the wrench in the works for that plan, is his long-lost god-daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the child of his buddy in the adventure we just saw, who turns up seeking a lost archaeological treasure she believes Indy has. But there is a hitch because that same Nazi scientist (Mikkelsen again), now working for NASA and hiding his past, is after it too. And of course, he’s still secretly a Nazi.

Echoing the original, this young woman draws a reluctant Indy into the adventure, in this case by stealing the object. We also get brief appearances by old friends, like John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, and a whole lot of fast-paced adventuring fun.

The MacGuffin that both the Nazis and Indy are chasing, the Archimedes Dial, looks a lot like the real-world Antikythera device, but the ancient device in the movie is not only in working order but has the power to find fissures in time. Or could, if they had both halves.

Pursuit of this object sparks a chase across continents and plenty of thrilling action and adventures (including punching Nazis), with call-backs to scenes from the original. The abundant chases and fight scenes are breathless and exciting, with danger mixed with touches of humor. We also get a car chase in Tangiers, in tuk tuks, those tiny three-wheeler vehicles that are small enough to navigate the narrow, twisting lanes, which is great fun.

While many fans of the original will delight in this throw-back film, built to wrap up the Indiana Jones story while providing that nice farewell to the role for Harrison Ford, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY is also a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it film because it departs from the basic premise of what might happen in a 1940s adventure movie, by introducing a bit of sci-fi. No details, to avoid spoilers, but sci-fi haters won’t be happy.

To be honest, the plot does run a bit out-of-control late in the film. Some extra suspension of disbelief is required, but no more so than needed for the typical MISSION IMPOSSIBLE gravity- and physics-optional CGI stunt fest.

While some of this plot is a stretch, a little forgiveness is warranted, as INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY does right by the characters and by the spirit of the Indiana Jones series. It ties up everything nicely, in a touching, reasonable and satisfying bow. Why ask for more?

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY opens in theaters on Friday, June 30.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

YOUNG IP MAN: CRISIS TIME – Review

I’ve enjoyed many of the films based on Ip Man, the eponymous actual Chinese martial arts hero of the last century – especially the batch starring Donnie Yen. YOUNG IP MAN: CRISIS TIME is set in 1917, when Ip Man came to Hong Kong as a teenager to further his education. Unfortunately, his upper-crust school is targeted by a big time criminal who’d just escaped from prison to occupy the whole place, holding the entire student body for ransom, aided by a small army of hench-persons.

Ip Man, of course, is compelled to rise to the occasion despite overwhelming odds, diminutive stature and a couple of other personal complications. In structure, this one more closely resembles a Bruce Willis DIE HARD ordeal than most traditional martial movies. I wanted to like this film more than I could. The production is lavish enough, and there are some satisfying action sequences but two factors blocked the path to a higher rating.

First, although claiming to be set in 1917, they seemingly borrowed sets, costumes and props from a recently-wrapped period piece occurring in the 1930s to ‘40s. I’m all for recycling, but this bit of economizing created a huge distraction from the story for any of the diminishing audience base that can still distinguish between eras. At least no one used a cell phone.

Second, Pantheras Freedman may not have been the best choice for the lead here. Though 26 at the time of filming, he did look like a fresh-faced teenager. But after so many other heroic productions – some of which had included Ip Man’s early years – Freedman lacked the gravitas associated with that legendary figure. The dialog was fine. He said all the principled words meant to establish the requisite integrity and courage for honoring the man, but they sounded more like rote than conviction.

In 1992, after the Indiana Jones films had been such a phenomenal success, George Lucas whipped up a TV prequel series, THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, with Sean Patrick Flanery as the youth that would become the Harrison Ford character. Although it only lasted 28 episodes, production values were quite exceptional for the medium, and Flanery captured just enough of Indy’s panache to make the show worthy of 10 Emmys, and a slew of other nominations. Pretty much what one would expect from Lucas, irrespective of screen size. This one falls well short of that mark.

Had this been the same movie, except with Freedman playing a fictional kid forced to rise to an occasion, they could have matched the dates with the accoutrements, and not been pressed to live up to all that rich historic and cinematic past. If you’re unfamiliar with the Ip Man background (which includes the fact that his most famous student was Bruce Lee), your chances of enjoying the excitement this does contain should be significantly greater.

YOUNG IP MA: CRISIS TIME, mostly in Mandarin with English subtitles, streams on Hi-YAH! starting Apr. 28, and will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD as of May 16.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Review

*Michelle Yeoh in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24*

Michelle Yeoh gives a tour-de-force performance in the wildly creative EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, as a weary middle-aged laundromat owner whose marriage is failing, business is being audited by the IRS and daughter is becoming estranged – and is the only person who can save the multiverse. The genre-bending, entertaining, crazy EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE actually is all about everything, as Mrs Wang (Yeoh) – Evelyn – confronts her life, choices and everything about life, as she bounces from alternate universe to alternate universe. Michelle Yeoh is the driving force behind this crazy, hard-to-categorize film that is part comedy, mind-bending sci-fi adventure, visual effects extravaganza, martial arts action-er, and family drama. Yeoh is its dazzling star, as this unlikely heroine.

Mrs. Wang’s (Yeoh) American dream hasn’t worked out. She had big dreams when she married Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) against her parents wishes and ran off to America. Buying their own business, a laundromat, was supposed to be a ticket to prosperity. Now Mrs. Yang feels all the work falls on her, handling the business and the books while her silly, impractical husband pastes googly eyes on everything and her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is often off with her non-Chinese girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel). Mrs. Wang is preparing for a birthday party for her elderly, widowed, wheelchair-bound father Gong Gong (a wonderful James Hong), who lives with her but still scolds her about marrying against his wishes. On top of it all, Mrs. Wang has an appointment with stern IRS agent Deirdre Beaubeirdra (an unrecognizable Jamie Lee Curtis) who is auditing the Wangs’ business. On her way to the appointment, something very strange happens to Evelyn Wang: she is contacted by a visitor from a parallel universe, who begs for her help to save the multiverse. The visitor looks just like her husband but isn’t him, and hands her an earbud that is a way to blip between universes, where she has very different lives.

Sounds like a mental break, doesn’t it? And the fact that this movie does not start out in the realm of superheroes feeds that skeptical sensation, but it also actually adds to the intrigue of the story as we go down this rabbit hole. Much of the action takes place in the IRS office, in various universes, but Evelyn also gets to sample what her life would be like in other worlds, if she has followed another life path.

In one of the weirder universes, everyone has long fingers that look like hot dogs, and in another, Evelyn is a famous performer. There are common elements to the universes, like a Bollywood movie on the TV and a RATATOUILLE running joke, Evelyn’s life is very different, for better or worse. All the while, the threat to all existence is pressing in, a threat in the form of a bagel with everything – literally everything.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE feels somewhat like a cross between a Charlie Kaufman and a Jackie Chan film, with a lot of other things thrown in. This film asks some deep philosophical questions and puts us in a mind-twisting world, but also features comedy, marital arts, romance, and family drama, all with an unlikely heroine forced into a situation where she must do extraordinary things. This wild yet gripping tale, which is divided into three chapters, was directed and written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as the Daniels.

What pulls it all together is Michelle Yeoh’s remarkable performance. It is a rare thing to see a middle-aged ordinary woman at the center of a movie, but Yeoh makes the most of the opportunity to break preconceived ideas. At first, Evelyn Yang is angry and exhausted, frustrated with her life and full of regrets, yet seeing no way out. The visitor from the older world looks like her husband but is clearly not, an experience Evelyn finds disconcerting to say the least. In other universes, Evelyn has different skills and as she flips between them and battles adversaries, her confidence grows. It gives Yeoh a chance to play multiple roles at once and gives the audience the chance to see her display her famous physical skills.

Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious as the stern IRS agent who becomes a murderous adversary in an alternate universe. She leads a pack of fighters are bent to preventing Evelyn from saving the multiverses and are allied with a shadowy villain called Jobu Tupaki. Later, we see another side to her because nothing and no one is simple in this film.

This wild tale is as visually dazzling as its gifted star Michelle Yeoh. Some of the worlds are as surreal and colorful as a vivid dream or crazy as an acid trip, and as detailed as Tibetan mandala. Flipping between worlds is handled brilliantly, spinning is around as Yeoh’s character is but landing us on our feet long enough to follow the action.

At once silly and serious, this film is endlessly inventive and creative. The visual effects are a delight, and often played with a tongue-in-cheek humor, but directors Kwan and Scheinert keep us from descending into confusion. The pacing is frenetic, and relentless, and dividing the tale into chapters gives the audience a brief moment to catch their collective breath. We never know what twist is headed our way, but it is a delightful wild ride.

The film is an impressive accomplishment but such an enjoyable film that some audiences may not quite realize that, because they are so swept up in its wild ride. This is the rare kind of film with the potential to wow both critics and audiences, at least for anyone with any taste for fantasy or science fiction at all.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 8.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

THE LOST CITY (2022) – Review

Hey film fans, since traveling is still a bit iffy (some health issues) and pricey (oy, the pump costs) how about a cinematic getaway to a faraway exotic island? Not tempting enough? Well, how about hanging out with a trio of your favorite movie stars (and I do mean stars…real “A-listers”)? Indeed this marks the big-screen return of a favorite leading lady who has been absent for four long years. And she shares scenes with not one, but two Hollywood “hunks”. Yes, romance, comedy (with a touch of satire), and a bit of danger are on the itinerary when you grab a (theatre) ticket and the multiplex whisks you away to THE LOST CITY.

Things are looking steamy and a touch scary for the duo at the heart of the story when the Paramount logo fades away. Oops, it’s all in the head of popular romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) as she battles writer’s block in the comfort of her cozy home. Perhaps she’s a tad too comfortable as she’s become somewhat reclusive since the passing of her hubby. And when that newest work, “The Lost City of D”, is finished she finds that her popularity may be waning…a bit. That’s why her BFF and publicist Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) convinces her to kick off her promotional tour for the book with a personal appearance at a big romance novel convention. And to Loretta’s annoyance, she must share the stage (at a fan Q & A) with the cover model for her paperbacks, the gorgeous but dim Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), who is reprising his “role” as the ongoing series hero “Dash” McMahon. After the disastrous event, things go from bad to worse as Loretta is spirited away by a couple of burly goons as Alan watches helplessly. Said thugs transport Loretta to their boss, eccentric media millionaire Abigail (yup) Fairfax (Danielle Radcliff) who believes that she can help him locate the actual “crown of fire” in Calloman’s Tomb on a remote Atlantic island. Since the tomb may be destroyed by a nearby active volcano, he ignores her pleas to be released and chloroforms her, and the group jets off to that exotic locale. Ah, but team Sage is on the case. Alan contacts an ex-military man he met at a meditation seminar, Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt), and flies away to join him for her rescue. But can the two of them save Loretta from Fairfax’s legion of henchmen while they’re outrunning lava?

So, Ms. B hasn’t graced the big screen since 2018’s OCEAN’S EIGHT? And grace is the right word since she glides through this frothy romp with the assured stride of the gifted icons of the golden age. Her lengthy film career is certainly no fluke, as she brings all of her arsenal (comedy, tragedy, action, romance) to the role of the often awkward writer. Loretta uses her solitude as a protective “bubble” to ward off anything or anyone that may add to her festering sorrow. When she begrudgingly re-enters “the world” Bullock exercises her crackling comic timing as Loretta uses her snark as rapidly-fired needle “pinpricks”. Coupled with her physical comedy skills, and abetted with her gaudy “sparkly” sequined pantsuit, she’s an almost “alien” outcast in the jungle. But Bullock shows us the change in Sage as the central mystery resonates with her which prompts her to take a chance on someone again. And that’s the surprising Tatum as Alan, who begins as a pretty boy cartoon, the vain vapid gorgeous dimwit (do they still say “him-bo”) strutting about with flowing fake blond locks and “puffy shirts open to the navel. He reminds us of his great comedy “chops’ we enjoyed so much in 21 JUMP STREET, its sequel, and the recent DOG (probably still playing nearby), but he also displays a real vulnerability as Alan acts on his feelings for his “book boss lady”, aching to be the hero she’s fashioned around him. But he’s really not “that guy” as he also has a flair for the slapstick as “action Alan” becomes a klutzy whirlwind of limbs. Which is a great contrast to the “uber-cool alpha-dog” that is Pitt’s Trainer who’s the “real deal” and almost effortlessly uses Alan’s missed kicks and swings to his advantage while trying to temper his remarks (“Alan, that’s a good effort, but you should’ve stayed in the car”).

As for the support team to the “titanic trio”, a good mix of comic actors has been gathered. Well, the villain may be best known for a heroic magical hero icon, Radcliffe seems to be having lots of fun shattering his image as the nefarious Fairfax the “poster child” for the angry sibling, a scheming brat who wants what he deserves right this second (think Veruca Salt with lots of backup and firepower). Heading the “good guy” sidekicks is Randolph (so great as Lady Reed in DOLEMITE IS MY NAME) as the tightly wound, stressed but still in control Beth, whose business ambitions take a backseat to her affection for her “superstar scribe”. Plus she’s a great “reactor tempering her frustration at dealing with a couple of “oddballs”, namely Patti Harrison as the “always on her cellphone” social media consultant (she can’t speak without uttering several “hashtags”) and Oscar Nunez (from TV’s “The Office”) as goofy cargo plane pilot Oscar who thinks that he can charm her into his cockpit (wink wink). And SNL gem Bowen Yang has a nice bit as the book conference’s overly caffeinated host of the Q & A debacle.

The directors calling the shots in this comedy caper are a fairly new team, the Nee (not the Knights who say) brothers Adam and Aaron, their third feature after THE LAST ROMANTIC and BAND OF ROBBERS (a SLIFF flick). And they do a terrific job balancing the character comedy with the more slapstick sequences along with the frantic action set pieces and the often nail-biting escapes and scrapes. And though a lot of its basic premise owes much to 1984’s ROMANCING THE STONE (a nice homage is the event’s banner that proclaims “Romancing the Book”), the screenplay by the Nees with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox from a Seth Gordon story has plenty of sharp satirical stabs at those “bodice-ripper” books and their over-heated fanbase in addition to the spirited interplay between Loretta and Alan. Unfortunately, the film does succumb to the dreaded comedy film “lull” a bit past the one-hour mark as the duo connects on the dance floor (it needs a big trim from the editors). And the big finale feels a tad rushed with everything quickly “lining up in place”. But these are somewhat minor quibbles against the breath-taking Dominican Republic location work and the inspired pairing of Bullock and Tatum, briefly aided by a winking Pitt. So if you’re really needing a bit of swooning star escapism find your way (no tattered old maps needed) to THE LOST CITY.

3.5 Out of 4

THE LOST CITY opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, March 25, 2022

UNCHARTED (2022)- Review

Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) look to make their move in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED. photo by: Clay Enos

So getting those winter blues, stuck inside for days due to the weather (and lingering travel restrictions) making you a bit stir crazy? The perfect “cure” might be a virtual “vacay”, namely a globe-spanning adventure starring two actors representing the “next-gen” of action heroes. Hey, one of them is still dominating the box office (and probably playing in the auditorium next door or down the hall). But this is no mere travelogue “romp”. It’s an adaptation (and a hoped-for new franchise). Another comic book, maybe a novel, or perhaps a classic TV show? Get with it Gramps’, this is a computer game that hopes to make as big a splash as Sonic did two years ago. Rather than a CGI speedy critter, here’s the tale of a team who’ll face any danger in their quest for gold and glory hidden in territories still UNCHARTED.

Much like another beloved action franchise, this movie’s opening sequence has the intrepid Nate Drake (Tom Holland) in seemingly unescapable peril until…a flashback. We then meet him as a teen when he and his older brother Sam try to raid a museum in the dead of night. Try is the operative word as the two are hauled back to the orphanage. Before Sami s sent off to “juvie’ he promises Nate that he’ll keep in touch, then disappears into the night. A dozen or so years later adult Nate is mixing cocktails and tossing off historical explorer nuggets as he relieves spoiled “trust funders” of their trinkets and cash. But somebody’s on to his “game”: worldly “collector” Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wallberg). He approaches Nate and tries to recruit him into his plot to grab to golden jeweled crosses that would unlock the lost treasure of Magellan. Nate’s not onboard till Sully reveals that he worked with Sam. Actually, they just need the cross that’s part of a big “high-end” auction nearby (Sully insists he’s got the other one). The duo sneaks into the swanky event and are immediately spotted by the slinky Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), Sully’s rival and a ruthless retriever for multi-billionaire Santiago (Antonio Banderas) who believes the treasure is part of his family legacy. After the auction ends in chaos Sully and Nate are on the run, first to meet up with a shady operative in Barcelona, Chloe (Sophia Ali), leading to an all-out showdown on a Pacific island. Can the lowly trio get to the loot before Santiago and Braddock’s army scoops it up?

Aside from its gaming roots, this film’s biggest ‘draw” may be Holland, fresh off of last year’s biggest box office hit (now the third biggest domestic B.O. of all time). Here he brings the same infectious energy and boyish charm as Peter P., but offset with a devious, rascally grin as he breezes off with “ill-gotten booty”. That’s tempered with his sense of loss and longing to reunite with his mentor, older sibling. Part of that role is taken up by Wahlberg whose Sully oozes with layback cool mixed with lots of snark, as he tries to suppress a grin as Nate reminds him of his early blunders. Both actors can pull off the dapper and the dirty inherent in their roles. Always looking suave is Banderas who now seems to be the “go-to” guy for the sinister international mastermind (much as he did last year in THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD). Well, at least he’s not stroking a cat as he reveals his nefarious schemes. One of those listening in would be Gabrielle who makes Braddock both sinister and sexy, an exotic dangerous beauty who will “kiss you deadly” without a moment’s hesitation. On the flip side, there’s Ali as Chloe who has tart chemistry with Nate, though she can’t quite be fully trusted since her past with Sully has made her much wiser…and wiley.

The action sequences are strung together with a manic pace by director Ruben Fleischer, who has jettisoned the subversive satire of his ZOMBIELAND films for gravity-defying (and physics-ignoring) set pieces to keep kids glued to their seats. Unfortunately, these CGI-enhanced stunt exercises are exhausting and eventually monotonous as the film tries to “top” itself and forgo more character development to keep moving to the next exotic locale. Plus the three (!) screenwriters should know better than to namedrop Indiana Jones and Jack Sparrow which reminds the audience of much-better adventure extravaganzas. Holland’s tossed around here as much as the wallcrawler, but he, like most of the characters, may just be made of pixels as they bounce back quicker than the Looney Tunes troupe. At least Indy had some “mileage” as Nate doffs his shirt baring a chest free of scrapes and bruises. And like most thrillers, they don’t know how to wrap things up as they sprinkle in mid-credits “bonus’ scenes to tempt us with future sequels (oh they surely hope). Aside from the future software exploits, this will probably end the big screen capers of Nate and Sully. It’s a shame since Holland and Wahlberg have an easy-going rapport. They’re deserving of a better outing than this “kiddie-spin” (aside from the patricide and some throat-slitting) on the modern swashbucklers that’s more uninspired than UNCHARTED.

2 out of 4

UNCHARTED opens in theatres everywhere

JUNGLE CRUISE – Review

Alrighty, who’s ready for some theme park fun and thrills? What, you say you don’t want to wait in the long lines in the hot, hot sun way too close to possibly infected throngs of people? Oh, and don’t get me started on those inflated parking fees (after traffic jams) and concession prices! Well, how about your favorite ride coming to you.? Well, not exactly, but close by, say the nearby multiplex cinema. That’s part of the thinking behind this weekend’s big, big movie release. Oh, and starting a new franchise (of course). That’s why the “mouse house” has their gloved fingers (and tails crossed). Could they have another PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, or could it go the way of the COUNTRY BEARS (y’know from the Jamboree)? It all depends on how many moviegoers hop aboard this big ole’ JUNGLE CRUISE.

Before we leave port, we’re treated to a mythic prologue all about the “Tears of the Moon”, magical leaves from an also magical tree hidden somewhere on the banks of the Amazon River. It’s said that those ‘tears’ can cure any disease, heal any injury, and ensure immortality. Centuries ago a band of conquistadors led by Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez) invaded the village of the lost tribe that guarded that tree. After fatally stabbing the chief, a curse is placed on Aguirre and his band. They’re swallowed up by the forest, trapped forever in suspended animation. Somehow an arrowhead, essential to the fabled map of the tree’s location, is found and sent to the British Explorers’ Society in 1916. That’s where researcher MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) pleads with the assembled members to borrow the piece to seek the tree. But he’s just a distraction. His “head-strong ” sister Lily (Emily Blunt) makes her way to the storage area to grab the arrowhead. Turns out she’s just a few steps ahead of a nefarious German prince, Joachim (Jesse Plemons), who has bribed the club’s staff to grab the piece for his country. He shakes his fists as Lily makes a daring escape and heads to South American with her brother in tow. Ah, but once there, she needs to hire river transportation. Luckily she soon meets Frank Wolff (Dwyane Johnson), who’s barely getting by as a cruise guide for tourists, part of a fleet owned by the greedy Nilo (Paul Giamatti). And in lieu of money owed, he’s taken the engine from Frank’s boat. But thanks to Lily’s lock-picking skills, Frank gets said engine back and accepts her generous offer to take them to find the tree, Unfortunately, Joachim is also down there and he’s commanding a submarine. Can Frank help the Houghton siblings locate those magical leaves before he does? And then things get really complicated when Aguirre and his now supernatural soldiers awaken. How will our heroes survive?

Johnson has his charm at full speed as he gleefully spews out a multitude of “groaner’ “dad-jokes” (mostly lifted from the spiel of the guides on the original Disney theme park ride attraction) and makes Frank more than a “hulked-out” Charlie Allnutt (from the now 70-year-old classic THE AFRICAN QUEEN. Though it’s tough to imagine any foe being a physical challenge, his main obstacles are his employers. Of the two, there’s a playful teasing schoolyard banter with Blunt’s Lily who mixes Rose Sayer (from…y’know) and Lara Croft (and maybe a pinch of Poppins). She’s a feisty force for female empowerment, only occasionally in need of rescue, though often a “damsel-in-distress”. Actually, her brother MacGregor, as played by Whitehall, is the panicky “dude-in-distress”, seeming to be in a constant threat of fainting, when he’s not “overpacking” for the excursion. Whitehall’s mainly a comic foil/sidekick, which makes his impassionated mid-film confession seem out of place in this frothy bit of fluff. Still, he’s more endearing than the villainous buffoons that two of our most talented character actors are burdened with. Plemons, so wonderful in GAME NIGHT, preens and prances as the Teutonic twit Joachim, a stereotype more at home in countless WW II two-reelers. Not far behind in the “mugging contest’ is Giamatti, complete with cane, gleaming gold-tooth, and Italian accent (which seems to come and go with the tide) as the always apoplectic Nilo, yet another ineffectual boss (much as in recent misfire GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE) in his long resume. Nilo’s shaking his fist, as his property is destroyed around him, much as James Finlayson did as the nemesis of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy. It’s no test for Mr. Giamatti’s considerable talents. The real “bad guy’ menace is provided by Ramirez and company, though their faces are a pallette for lots of flashy CGI gimmickry.

A veteran of several modestly-budgeted Liam Neeson thrillers, director Jaume Collet-Serra goes from the “farm team’ to the “big show” as the “traffic cop” is this frenetic by-product of franchise-frenzy. He’s not given much of a chance to explore the characters before another big action “set piece’ must commence, checked off from the script’s lengthy list of distractions (five writers churned this out). It’s a clunky, noisy mess that tries too hard to mimic vastly superior flicks. I remarked to my screening guest that this was “regurgitated” (maybe “rancid” is more like it) RAIDERS (as in OF THE LOST ARK), while he replied that a better comparison would be to the 1999 take on THE MUMMY (so Raiders twice removed). I remarked that it’s similar to comparing a new sci-fi fantasy to THE ICE PIRATES. And speaking of them, the gnarly, near-unstoppable baddies owe much to the oceanic menaces of the CARIBBEAN series, with one oozing honey and bees, as another shoots slithery CGI snakes out of every orifice. Oh, and the visual effects often seem “slap dashed as a weird glow envelopes the leads as they emote in front of a generated backdrop (almost as bad as those thick black lines in the olden days of rear-projection). And then there’s that cheetah, who would’ve looked phony in any version of Dr. Doolittle. Of course, we’ve got to see some “product placement” as a Perrier sign nearly pops off the screen during the big London stunt shot. The gifted James Newton Howard provides a bombastic score that should have John Williams consulting his legal team. His music gets extra “cutesy” as Frank and Lily taunt each other with the nicknames “Pants” and “Skippy” (this is witty banter). And then much of the suspense erodes away by a deranged “reveal twist” before the big third act (though the flick, like many action epics, has four endings too many). For the most part, the behind-the-scenes artists do a decent job of recreating the 1910’s (now who then would wear a purple velvet jacket like the oafish Joachim), but it’s all in a disparate mishmash of genres and vastly superior older flicks. If this hits, could “It’s a Small World” starring Johnson’s JUMANJI co-stars Kevin Hart and Danny DeVito be in the “pipeline”? “Shudder”. Please no, since this JUNGLE CRUISE has left me quite “green around the gills”. Pass me the quinine, quick!

One-Half Out of 4

JUNGLE CRUISE opens in theatres everywhere and can be streamed via Premier Access on Disney+.

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