All age comic books, Kidlit, mglit, movies, entertainment and parenting
Category: Daddy Mojo at the Movies
Going out to the movies is a rare act for moms and dads. In this series we’ll go to the movies, so you can judge for yourself if it’s a good investment.
“Why would he (our 12-year old son) want to see Gran Turismo?”, mused my wife. I snickered just a little bit too because I too had momentarily interchanged Gran Torino with Gran Turismo. To make matters even more challenging for the marketing of the film, Gran Turismo is a movie based on the real-life story of , who was good at playing Gran Tourismo, the video game, and then became a real-life race car driver. I’ve seen this movie before, Rock Star, with Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Anniston, you older movie fans might be thinking to yourself. But, before you dismiss Gran Tourismo as something that you’ve seen before, here this, it’s actually quite refreshing and has more in common with Rocky, than the cheesy gamer film you’ve imagined.
Oppenheimer, the film by Christopher Nolan has usurped Russians from Dream of the Blue Turtles as the leading edge of cultural awareness for “father of the atomic bomb”. In that song, Sting flippantly introduced the subject as “Oppenheimer’s deadly toy”. In reality, his relationship was much more complex with nuclear weapons than that; but kudos to Sting for introducing a name to millions of folks who otherwise wouldn’t have heard it until now. Oppenheimer is a big film in the most Christopher Nolan manner possible. It’s a three-hour dramatic tour de force that grabs viewers by their shirt collars and maintains its grip for the vast majority of its run time.
Why would I go see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a second time? Cult classics get better over time, a bad movie that’s just been released doesn’t need to be seen again. Let’s be clear, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not a cult classic. However, my extended and immediate family loves the Indiana Jones character, and its 90 degrees outside, so what the heck. A second viewing of the film didn’t change my initial opinion of the film, but it certainly explained a couple of aspects regarding the character’s fandom.
If you’ve read any reviews of spoilers about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny they’re all true. It kind of falls under the idiom of, whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. There are some great moments in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. There are some pointless moments, instances of human physical impossibility, a case study of why de-aging characters is a horrible choice, and examples of why adding more cooks to the kitchen never results in a better quality film. However, thanks to Mads Mikkelsen, the score by John Williams and, to an extent, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny isn’t the train wreck that resembled Crystal Skull.
Cinephiles will remember the time when a movie from a Steven King story all but doomed it to a less-than-entertaining experience. The cinematic world of Marvel Comics has had its own perilous journey. Comic book movies used to be pejorative, but then they reached a relatively consistent phase where they were dependably entertaining. MCU phases 1, 2 and 3 are great examples of that. Then came phase 4 and someone tinkered with the MCU script. While some movies in phase 4 made money, most of them fell far short of expectations and were marginally entertaining. Guardians of the Galaxy was a phase 2 film that defied what audiences expected from a comic book movie. It was weird, had characters that few people outside of the comic book world knew, and seemed out of place amongst a sea of mildly flawed spandex heroes. It was also refreshing. Now, with all of those headwinds spinning around us, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is upon us. Does it capture the MCU magic of old or continue the tedium that phase 3 established?
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a movie that’s in an unenviable position. It’s coming out four years after the original that made money and was profitable, but it wasn’t Marvel, phase 1, 2, or 3 profitable. It’s also post-COVID and the movie-going public, especially the family-oriented ones aren’t receiving the attention that they once did. For superhero movie fans, the most recent slate of releases has been very poorly received and a shadow of their recent quality. With all of that in the rearview mirror, Shazham! Fury of the Gods gleefully steps on the gas and has produced a fun movie. It’s self-aware, mocks its self-awareness, reminds audiences that they really don’t know the character, and probably forgot the fine points of the first Shazam movie in 2019.
Recap: Billy Batson was given mystical powers by a dying wizard. Whenever this 17-year-old kid says “Shazam” he turns into the superhero. At the end of the first film he gave some of his powers to his adopted brothers and sisters, and now they’re a flying superhero team. All of this is thankfully covered in the first 20 minutes or so, which might explain why most of the people who we asked at our screening found that to be the weakest part of the film.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods focuses on some ancient gods who have come back to life and are after an ancient staff. Once they put it together they’re halfway towards conquering Earth, as long as they can plant an apple from the tree of creation. So far it’s the same hokey, superhero in tights stuff, but as you’re viewing the film it feels, ironically grounded.
There are real issues like adoption, betrayal, imposter syndrome, trust, and more that feel welcome in a ‘superhero’ film. At times it reminded me of the first Iron Man, with just a bit of Despicable Me thrown in for good measure. Fury of the Gods was breezy, fun, and lightweight entertainment. It’s the kind of movie that 10-year-old kids will see and love. Their 14-year-old siblings will see it and enjoy it more than they’re letting on. Adults will be pleasantly surprised at the film as long as they relax, look past some of the plot holes, and focus on Helen Mirren.
Yeah, there are problems with the film. Djimon Hounsou’s beard and dreadlocks look incredibly fake in every scene. Some of the CGI scenes look like they were lifted from Doctor Strange. The age discrepancy between Shazam and his teen alter-ego is incredibly inconsistent. The teen is fun and full of life, whereas the adult superhero is too much teen and annoying at times. The humor is fine, but there are many jokes that don’t connect.
Audiences also aren’t sure who’ll be around in the next version of DCEU. There is a cameo in Fury of the Gods from a superhero who’s not even in the future plans for the DC films. Their presence is a little odd, but it doesn’t taint the movie too much. Unfortunately, this happens near the end of the film when something silly and unexplainable happens.
Having said all of that, it’s still a fun movie. Shazam! Fury of the Gods won’t charm everyone, but it’s a nice placeholder for families who want to see a good, mostly clean film for ages 10 and up. There are a couple of instances where language is used that you don’t want the younger ones repeating. This is where it deftly straddles the line between it being a movie that’s aimed at families. It won’t tread any new ground, but it’ll keep those who want to be entertained, entertained. You may want another film in the franchise, but the age discrepancy will inhibit that dramatically. If Billy Batson is a young 20-something in the next film, then the kid-like charm of Shazham is gone. Will people still want to see a youth who’s just about to leave college whine and act as hapless and insecure as the superhero does? Probably not, but perhaps they could write their way out of it. Zachary Levi does have a certain amount of charm in this titular role, but he’d have to raise his demo dramatically to keep pace with its youth version.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is rated PG-13 for action, violence and language.
Our oldest son loved The Bad Guys book series by Aaron Blabley all throughout his elementary school years. When The Big Bad Wolf came out in 2019 he went out of his comfort zone and chased down a Target worker to see if a copy of the book was in the back when the end cap was empty. When you spend any time at an elementary school you’ll see dozens, upon dozens of copies of any of The Bad Guys books in the library. It’s a graphic novel series that’s welcoming to read and doesn’t intimidate those younger readers who are transitioning to early chapter books. As a film, The Bad Guys is actually pretty good. Now, I realize that sentence could be perceived as if I’m slighting the film, and if that’s the case, then I blame Billie Eilish.
There is a cute, undeniable charm that those yellow Minions have. They’re optimistic and seem like they’d be fun at a party. Minions: The Rise of Gru aims to take that spirit to its second Despicable Me prequel as the yellows and a young Gru come to terms with things in the mid-1970s. There is a lot that’s wrong with The Rise of Gru, however, it’s challenging to fully dislike it because you know exactly what you’re in for, or at least you should be. The Rise of Gru is in your face, pigeon Spanish, Minion-centric, off-key singing yellow happiness for 90 minutes. If you’re seven through 10 this will be your jam. If you’re older than that, then you’ve drawn the short straw and were tasked with seeing the film with the kids.
(from left) Minion Stuart, Gru (Steve Carell) and Minions
There’s a reason why Urkel, as a television character, never had his own show. If a major component of your entertainment vehicle straddles the line as precariously as the ripeness of an avocado, then proceed with caution. The Rise of Gru has many of the elements that made the first four films that starred Minions entertaining, although on a sliding scale from most to least. In this film, it brings in those things, adds some cool villains and a nice soundtrack (although most of the songs were covers, even if they were well done), but scuttles the ship when it adds in too many baby Muppets.
Baby Muppets is a personal thing that I refer to when intellectual property has run out of gas by taking the main characters and simply imagining them as children. In 2015’s Minion, as that film was ending, audiences met Gru, as a child. The Minions and Gru would seemingly go on to have a beautiful partnership as that film’s credits started to roll.
The Rise of Gru takes that ending and makes Steve Carrel’s voice higher because his character is now a child, then amps up the silly. Minions was silly when compared to the three Despicable Me movies. Minions: The Rise of Gru is lobotomized when compared to Minions. The Rise of Gru was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 2020, ie, the summer of Covid. The ensuing two years haven’t made the jokes in the film age poorly. If anything it’s just made the tolerance level of some audience members less patient and forgiving of films that waste their time.
The plot to The Rise of Gru centers on a group of super villains and their quest for a mysterious jeweled necklace. When this group has an opening for a villain they ask Gru to apply but are aghast when they realize that he’s just a kid. Gru decides to impress them by stealing said object, which is then complicated by a minion or two.
The good news is that the film is loaded to the gills with fast-moving yellow action sequences, set against songs from the 1970s.
The bad news is that the film is loaded to the gills with fast-moving yellow action sequences, set against cover songs from the 1970s.
Again, you know what you’re getting when you pay to see this film. It will either entertain you or it won’t, and you’ve got a gut feeling as to which camp you are in now. It won’t surprise you and is not in the business of offering up something new to people looking to blaze humor or animation trails.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is a reminder to audiences who’ve become used to being entertained by animated features that sometimes those movies are just there to be fun for the kids. The fact that a film has its key target as stoners or elementary school-aged kids seven to 10 years old is simply the way they want to do things. That first key demographic was new to me after speaking with a college student who was really into Minions, I put two pineapple things together and figured it out. The Rise of Gru will keep those two groups entertained, while those not in their league would’ve wished that they’d taken the red pill.
Minions is rated PG for action sequences that involve yellow oval blobs and other animated characters.
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