Adventure – We Are Movie Geeks

PROJECT HAIL MARY – Review

*Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace in PROJECT HAIL MARY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Jonathan Olley. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.*

Can a middle school science teacher save the world? With Ryan Gosling as the teacher with more potential than it first appears, he just might. In the intelligent, highly-entertaining, often funny science fiction adventure epic PROJECT HAIL MARY, we set out to find out, with a perfectly-cast Ryan Gosling as the science teacher plucked out of his classroom to try to do something incredible to try to save the world. PROJECT HAIL MARY is a film that exceeds expectations of what it could be, with great performance by Ryan Gosling, in a top-notch, visually glorious adaptation of the best-selling novel by the author of “The Martian,” Andrew Weir.

Like the movie adaptation of “The Martian,” this tale is science-forward and a thrilling adventure tale with a good dose of humor, about an unlikely man who finds himself in space, tasked with saving the world by using his brain-power, creativity and scientific skills to figure out how to not only survive, but save the planet – and more. Humor is a bigger part of PROJECT HAIL MARY than in THE MARTIAN, with its quirky main character, but this is still a smart, science-filled adventure that also offers the same uplift as THE MARTIAN.

Reportedly, PROJECT HAIL MARY is largely faithful to the best-selling novel. The film is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the Oscar-winning team behind SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, and THE LEGO MOVIE. Besides the frequent use of humor, PROJECT HAIL MARY is an optimistic film, offering hope and inspiration, which is a refreshing change from the dystopian science fiction dramas more common now, and making it a call-back to some earlier classic science fiction. Ryan Gosling carries the film as almost a one-man show for most of the film, and does so brilliantly, with charm, humor and heart.

Humor is a bigger part of PROJECT HAIL MARY than THE MARTIAN, often laugh-out-loud funny, but Ryan Gosling’s biology teacher in space, like the stranding astronaut in that previous film, has to uses his knowledge to figure it out on his own. But it is not just his survival at stake but the whole planet – and more – as something is destroying – eating – the sun. An international team has come together to solve the problem before the sun dims too much to sustain life on Earth. They recruit teacher Dr. Rylance Grace (Ryan Gosling), a molecular biologist who was ostracized from the scientific community after publishing a paper with a shocking premise, to help figure out what is destroying the sun, as part of a “try everything” plan to save the Earth.

But we first meet Dr. Grace as he is waking up from an induced coma aboard a spaceship, light-years from Earth. Grace remembers who he is but little else – not where he is, how he got there, or why he’s there, due to the prolonged time spent in an unconscious state for the trip. As Grace comically stumbles around the ship, he starts to figure things and discovers he is the only crew member to survive the journey.

Ryan Gosling is perfect in this role as this smart but quirky, funny and self-deprecating reluctant astronaut. The memories start to come back as this lone scientist starts to figure things out, which allows the film to tell us the backstory in long flashback sequences, of what brought him to space and why, while Grace’s space adventure story in the film’s present moves forward. Like in THE MARTIAN, Gosling records himself in little messages to himself about what he is experiencing, videos that are both funny and helpful narrative.

While it is only Gosling on screen much of the time, he does get some help from a few co-stars. Sandra Huller plays the stone-faced leader of one of the international teams working on the threat to Earth, who recruits the reluctant Dr. Grace to help with the project.

When Huller’s Eva Stratt shows up at Grace’s school, Grace argues that he’s just a teacher, but she counters by pointing to his biology paper with a startling hypothesis about life on other planets. Grace has a PhD in molecular biology, not astrobiology (yes, that’s a real field) but Stratt wants him to give it a shot anyway. Huller plays this character with a deadpan style that is the perfect comic foil for Gosling’s more emotional, oddball, non-conformist Dr. Grace.

Of course, Eva Stratt’s team isn’t the only one working on this problem, as many other teams are trying to solve it from different angles, and presumably, another team is working on this with astrobiologists. After all, it’s called Project Hail Mary because finding the solution is such a long shot – but the alternative is to do nothing and just wait to die.

Throughout the Earth-based part of the film, before he finds himself in space, Gosling’s Dr. Grace is reluctant, due to lack of self-confidence or maybe just aversion to risk, although when backed into the proverbial corner, he shows remarkable resourcefulness. His ability to “figure things out” keeps him on the team as they move towards finding a solution. But once he wakes up in space alone, he has to overcome this innate reluctance because he only has himself.

Gosling’s other major co-star is a space alien he meets when he encounters another spaceship. also with a sole occupant, sent from a different planet with a similar mission. This is no spoiler, as the alien is in the movie’s trailer, and the character is a major par of the story. The alien, which Grace dubs Rocky, is played by a puppet that looks like a rock with legs, winningly operated and voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz. Rocky is enthusiastic and energetic, and his comic bits have Gosling playing the foil, as the two, scientist and engineer, “figure things out” (a repeated phrase in this film).

Yes, the film has a little fun with the title, with Gosling’s Grace aboard a spaceship he calls Mary, but this is a smart if playful film. PROJECT HAIL MARY gets most of the science right and also delivers it in an accessible, engaging way. The most hard-to-believe part is that the world would come together to solve this problem, something that hasn’t happened since nations and businesses worked together to fix and ozone hole, and with current anti-science attitudes and lack of international cooperation generally, seems exceedingly unlikely now.

Visually, the film is marvelous. It shifts between close-in personal sequences, often laced with humor, as the scientists work, and gripping, exciting adventure sequences, moments of danger and tension, often in space. The film is visually astounding, shot for IMAX and with some 70mm versions out there too, so it is well worth seeing on an IMAX screen for sheer enjoyment.

Despite it’s two and a half hour running time, PROJECT HAIL MARY does not feel long, due to its level of excitement and engaging storytelling, but this is clearly an epic story.

All in all, PROJECT HAIL MARY is a smart, entertaining, not-to-miss science fiction adventure film, with a fabulous performance by Ryan Gosling, a wonderful story, and terrific big-screen visual effects. It is something to see on the biggest possible screen, and it is a film that holds up as entertainment through multiple viewings, while inspiring with a hopeful message that we can use our brains to figure it out.

PROJECT HAIL MARY opens nationally in theaters on Friday, Mar. 20, 2026.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE – Review

Director Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN) teams up with the great Sam Rockwell for a sci-fi action/comedy with something to say, where a man from the future, who is trying to save humanity from an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence creation, travels back in time to try to stop it at a critical moment. He’s already done this 116 times, but why not try a 117th.

On a dark night in L.A., one man enters a diner full of people, while holding a detonator button and wearing a strange outfit covered in wires and tactical gear. He says he’s not there to rob the place but he does have a bomb, so they better sit still and listen up. Then he tells them he is from the future and he’s there to recruit people to help him save humanity from an coming A.I. apocalypse, something he has already tried unsuccessfully 116 times before.

In a world-weary, slightly sarcastic tone, he tells his captive audience about his mission to save the world. Most people in the diner assume he’s a crazy homeless person but this joker is deadly serious, although you’d never guess that from his crazy get-up. Others barely look up from their cell phones – until he snatches their phones and tosses them away. He strides about the room, jumping on tables, calling out people by name to convince them this is real, and gradually, they start to listen to this character who seems to know things about the people there, who they are, what they are about to do next. He tells them that somewhere in this group of 47 people in this diner is a magic combination to save the world. Then he asks for volunteers to help him in his quest.

This is crazy, funny opening scene kicks things off in goofy, high-energy high-gear, as an unrecognizable Sam Rockwell, his face obscured by full beard, smeared dirt and a ski cap pulled low, brilliantly delivers his speech, about cell phone addiction leading to societal collapse and AI domination, while in constant kinetic motion. Rockwell goose-steps across tables, snatches handfuls of fries off plates, and slips into booths with lightning speed, to call them by name and share personal details about them – and pausing to yell at the waitress just before she picks up the phone to call the police.

Rockwell’s wild guy from the future does get a few volunteers (plus a few hands also go up from diners he refuses to take, due to poor performance on past runs). But he needs a few more, so he “drafts” some into coming along, based on either good past results or just because he hasn’t tried that combination before. One of the people who does volunteer is a young woman in a bedraggled princess costume, named Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson). At first, he refuses to take her, but then he relents – because he’s never pick her before. She might be the magic addition to this combination that makes his mission work this time.

The crew he assembles also includes a couple who are teachers, Mark (Michael Pena) and Janet (Zazie Beetz), and a grieving mom named Susan (Juno Temple), and blustery guy named Scott (Asim Chaudhry) plus a few more. Their mission is to install a bit of software that was developed in the future, which installs controls on an A.I. creation built by a 9-year-old boy (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt), before it can achieve singularity and surpass human intelligence. They have to reach the home of that boy before that happens, and time is short. The man from the future wears a timer counting down the minutes and knows where the boy is, and it isn’t even far, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to get there. Many have died trying over those 116 attempts.

This is director/producer Gore Verbinski’s comeback film after nearly a decade away from film making. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE (a phrase that is supposedly something virtual-reality gamers in this film say to each other) was independently made, maybe because no studio would touch a film that has A.I. as the villain. Nonetheless, Verbinski turns in an high-energy, entertaining film, with a good cast, while he and scriptwriter Matthew Robinson have their say about dangers of cell phone addiction and A.I. generally.

The ticking clock helps drive this energetic, entertaining gonzo comedy/adventure/action tale. which delivers with action and physical comedy but also delves into dark comedy (sometimes very dark, even unsettling), satire and social commentary, particularly in some flashbacks sequences. As the quest unfolds, we get flashbacks to some characters’ personal stories, specifically Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid, Michael Pena’s and Zazie Beetz’s and Juno Temple’s mom, as well as Sam Rockwell’s character’s tale. In flashbacks, we learn more about their alternate or near-future world, where school shootings are so common that schools come equipped safe rooms, disconnected teens are constantly on their phones or threatening if not, people are cloned in secret but come back with ads, and virtual reality goggles are so good, that people sign up to live in that alternate reality full time, permanently. All the flashbacks give us insight on how screwed up their world already is and, in the case of Rockwell’s character, part of how it got there.

Verbinski picked the perfect actor for the lead role but we know it is Sam Rockwell giving this speech largely because his name is in the credits. His face is well hidden, although why isn’t clear. His costume, however, is a perfect comic mishmash of electronics, wires, tactical gear and topped by a clear raincoat, making him look like a homeless person in a homemade time-traveler/bomber outfit.

As the story progresses, the lead shifts a bit toward Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid, as it hurtles towards it’s wild end with not just practical effects but also vibrant, even eye-popping visual effects.

I love the concept for this satiric dark comedy film, and it is a lot of fun, as well as having something to say, and Sam Rockwell is the perfect choice for the lead. While not everything is perfect, GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE still is an entertaining quirky, fun and involving film, with something important to say. The film deserves credit for being a unique concept on a timely topic, instead of a timid retread, and it deserves credit for its snappy pace, good storytelling, its band of misfits characters, its determined use of practical effects and nicely-done visual effects. Sam Rockwell deserves credit for a winning and determined high-energy performance under all that makeup and forty pounds of costume. We should reward all that by seeing this film, in a theater, and if you do, you will be rewarded with an entertaining and thought-provoking experience.

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

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

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