When Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came out audiences weren’t expecting anything. The internet was more abuzz about how the film couldn’t live up to Robin Williams’ performance and why Karen Gillan’s character was wearing a crop top. That film blew any low expectations away and was a manic blend of action and humor. Jumanji: The Next Level doesn’t achieve an Empire Strikes Back, but it doesn’t entirely drop the video game ball either.
Frozen makes me sick. Literally, in 2013 when I was supposed to go see Frozen I got sick. On the way to see Frozen II I had to pull the car over and have my wife drive the kids to the movie theater while I went home and got sick. The other week our eldest came into the office and asked me, “Is Frozen II a girl’s movie?” I told him no, there might be things in that film, as well as, the first one that appeals more to girls, but it’s not a girl’s movie. He went back and forth about wanting to see it until everyone was fully jazzed to see it, but the Frozen curse struck me down.
The theme song to The Addams Family is very catchy. The song is so endearing that our 8 year-old, despite having never seen any of the movies or the show was walking around the house humming the first couple of bars. Unfortunately for anyone over 11 years-old the Addams Family (2019) is a stiff, lifeless affair-and not in the way that it could’ve been for a children’s movie. At the end of the day, the biggest winner in The Addams Family (2019) is Snoop Dogg and not just because he has the least amount of time on screen; more on that in a moment.
In a parallel universe Joker is an indie film that was shot in the backwoods of Norway. The film is a serious approach to mental illness, gorgeously shot, with a bleak and powerful soundtrack that matches its visuals. It’s also masterfully acted and doesn’t pull any punches. The art house crowd loves every minute of the film and singing its praises. While the mainstream audience is appreciating the film, but it’s not breaking records. Joker is like that description, for the most part, except in reverse.
Joker is a drama for those 18 and up. It fully presents itself as a story in which we’re watching a mentally troubled character whose life is one step away from imploding. Arthur Fleck is bullied, beaten up, delusional and suffers from a form of Tourette Syndrome that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times. The film paints a world that we wouldn’t knowingly want to live in, yet also mirrors the one that we currently live in.
The MCU film that I compared Spider-Man: Far From Home when I left the theater was Iron Man 3-and not for good reasons. Elements of the film have the same bait and switch trick that the later had and I wasn’t a fan. However, since that film we’ve had almost two dozen entries into the MCU, a mythos has been created, fandoms built and a series of movie juggernauts launched. We’ve also had three really entertaining Spider-Man films in three years and that’s a great thing.
By now the history of Spider-Man and his MCU lineage is established. The snap occurred, was undone, albeit with some casualties and life has pressed on. What Spider-Man: Far From Home gets 100% down correctly (in an entertaining fashion) is how the snap impacted everyone involved. Some of Peter Parker’s contemporaries return as young adults who were nerdy, but now are the prettiest ones at school. Tributes to Iron Man are all over town and the rumor mill is a buzz as to who will helm The Avengers.
Factor all of this on top of the fact that Peter Parker’s class is taking a trip to Europe. He’s trying to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, has a crush on a girl, wants to hang out with his best friend and isn’t sure about his status in the superhero world that’s suddenly gotten weird.
A weird superhero film that focuses on the human elements of superhero lives calls for a heel that’s not typical; and here enters Mysterio, AKA, Quentin Beck. The snap comes into play to an extent as alternate Earths and their terrestrial based heroes are referenced. It tore a hole through dimensions which caused other people’s bad guys to come over to ours. Don’t think about things too hard in the film or you’ll see plot holes, but that’s part of the fun about the film.
It gleefully pokes fun at aspects of the snap while referencing other heroes that might seem more mature or well suited for this adventure. The film also lets the secret identity spider out of the bottle on more than one instance. Holy Michael Keaton Batman, suddenly MJ is Kim Bassinger as Vicki Vale.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is almost as much of a teen romance, as it is a superhero movie. There are some nice comedic elements and two great credit sequences that fans of the MCU need to see. One of them clears up a couple plot holes and the other one sees the MCU looking down the rabbit hole.
There are periods in the film where it gets a bit too big for its britches. One sequence with Mysterio is a bit long, the road trip element could’ve used a haircut here and there also. 15 minutes shorter and the film would’ve been a guilt-free summer popcorn flick. It’s longer than ideal run time doesn’t spoil the film, it just feels padded at times.
Having said that, it’s a fun film that ages 9 and up will clamor to see and will be the talk of the playground. It also cements Spider-Man as the youngest superhero that is OK for younger fans. Granted Spider-Man is high school, but some of the content might not be fine for most elementary viewers. The length of the film, combined with some language and mild adult situations will be too much or bore those kids 8 or younger.
Our 9 year-old loved the film and immediately asked when the next one would come out. As a fan of most films in the MCU, we liked it too, although not as much as Captain Marvel or some of the recent entries. It’s just barely above average, and that’s OK for a nice summer romp.
Go ahead and watch the trailers for Avengers: Endgame, they won’t give anything major away. It’s amazing for a huge movie to be so self-aware of itself, as well as, the movie genres that its overtly borrowing from. The minor characters or those not even in Avengers: Infinity War, rise up and establish huge sequences that are highly entertaining and actually answer questions. Avengers: Endgame acknowledges every aspect of the characters emotions in their previous MCU film’s and succeeds in the most Meta way possible.
Ant-Man is a major reason for this. It’s no spoiler to say that he’s in the film as he produces some of the biggest laughs from the trailer of him ringing the bell at the Avenger’s front gate. It’s Paul Rudd’s wry jokes, quick timing and fish out of water facial expressions that really assist things.
The pacing of Avengers: Endgame is amazing and not for the reasons you might think. It’s brilliantly paced, but it throws the entire formula and how MCU films are done on their head. Battle, loss, battle, loss, humor and then victory, take those ingredients, shake well and you’ve got a loose description of some average superhero films.
Time travel factors into Avengers: Endgame, but again, it’s not as obvious as you think. This is where Ant-Man and many other Avengers go Meta, full on Meta where they mock time travel films as being ridiculous. They do this at the same time while they’re making a film, about time travel that is possibly the best way that time travel has been dealt with in film.
In Avengers: Infinity War left you feeling betrayed and bummed out, I feel you. Avengers: Endgame more than makes up for any ill feelings that it caused. I see why they played it the way they did, and doing so any other way would’ve cheapened the film, watered down the MCU and made it all disposable. It is also worth noting that the film balance lots of humor with the drama, all the while putting it in a nice bow with stones.
What we’re left with is a 10 year opus that spans more arcs than Lord of the Rings and encapsulates it all in a perfect manner. Granted, they will still make many MCU films, this is not their swan song. However, there is a victory lap feeling about Avengers: Endgame. It respects the fans, adds to the dramatic elements, answers questions that fans have wondered about and plants a couple new seeds to grow on.
If Avengers: Infinity War left you feeling betrayed and bummed out, I feel you. Avengers: Endgame more than makes up for any ill feelings that it caused. I see why they played it the way they did, and doing so any other way would’ve cheapened the film, watered down the MCU and made it all disposable. It is also worth noting that the film balance lots of humor with the drama, all the while putting it in a nice bow with stones.
What we’re left with is a 10 year opus that spans more arcs than Lord of the Rings and encapsulates it all in a perfect manner. Granted, they will still make many MCU films, this is not their swan song. However, there is a victory lap feeling about Avengers: Endgame. It respects the fans, adds to the dramatic elements, answers questions that fans have wondered about and plants a couple new seeds to grow on.
Movies from DC Comics and Stephen King need to go bowling or form a support group. People will talk about them, see them in theaters but might add the caveat ‘for a DC Comic movie’ or ‘for a Stephen King film’ when describing them in a positive light. Shazam! is a very entertaining film and is just the sort of superhero film that upper middle school ages and up will love. We saw it with a pair of highly excitable 9 year-old boys who couldn’t get enough of the humor, charm and humility of it all.
Movies based in the DCEU have been frustratingly inconsistent. They are on a roll lately. If you count Teen Titans GO! To The Movies, that makes the most recent three films that have been exceeded their box office multiple times over, as well as, a favorable critical response. Given the huge cannon of superheroes and stories that DC is able to produce, it’s likely that with Shazam! they can finally shake that suffix adjective of ‘for a DC Comic movie’.
Shazam! is rated PG-13 and firmly sits in the middle of that rating. The violence wasn’t too much for kids of the age we went with, nor was the language. There were a couple choice 4-letter words, but it’s nothing that they haven’t heard in school and our two audience members knew not to repeat them. The violence was a little more than I expected, specifically, a monster sticking a human into his mouth and then (presumably) biting his head off. Again, this is common for PG-13 films like Jurassic (insert sequel here), but it caught our kids off guard. After the film one of them said, “aw, it’s OK, DC has better villains so that just set things up”.
The greatness of Shazam! also lays in its trailer. The trailer sets up the film, but gives absolutely nothing away. The similarities beween Shazham! and Superman are too many to name. The unknown variables of Shazam! are huge too. The film bridges both of these by setting up the mythos, as well as, letting audiences know that it too is aware of the superhero tropes.
The kids in the film are completely relatable and ones that kids in third grade and up will understand. Ours were laughing out loud and actively cheering on our hero as the film went along. The story in the film is also one that they will easily be able to follow. There are friends like they have, be them good, bad or the bullies.
Shazam! was enjoyable up until the very last frame. It has surprises aplenty and keeps them very close to the chest so that even the most ardent DC fan will see them coming. Middle school and up see this movie without question. Elementary school and up use caution for the language and some action, but ages 9 and up should be OK.
Storm Boy is based on a revered Australian book by the same name. Published in 1964 and later made into a film in 1976, it seems as germane to growing up down under as their young American contemporaries must do in watching The Sandlot or The Wizard of Oz. If you’re new to how respected this intellectual property is I’ll quote the thespian J. Lo in how to approach Storm Boy in saying “Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got”. Except, in this case, the ‘rocks’ are the film, ‘got’ is that it might be entertaining for children and I completely blame my wife for getting that earworm stuck in my head.
I thought it was a children’s film. Look at the poster for the film, it has a young boy hugging a pelican. This looks just like an Old Yeller poster would look if that film were re-imagined for today, I initially thought. Wait a minute, Old Yeller was a 50’s film that they showed us in school when teachers needed a break or students had to be taught that it’s OK to have feelings about a lovable, yet now rabid dog. That wasn’t really a film for children at all, was it?
I completely understand the fact that children must be taught the lessons of loss and the hardships of life. Many times it’s far easier to teach these lessons through film, then to have them experience it first- hand. I’m not the type of parent that bubble wraps our kids. Actions have consequences and sometimes it’s better to teach these things with real people or animals, instead of CGI characters that get traded or fall down the PIXAR memory hole.
To that end, Storm Boy is a gorgeously shot film that serves as much as a travel advert for Australia as it does a drama. The beaches are amazing and some of the shots with the pelicans are guaranteed to induce wanderlust. The film might be engaging for audiences middle school and older, just be ready for a heavy, slow paced film that requires your attention. There is a taut dramatic line that the film creates, it was just hard for us to stay on that line with a not-so-serious 9 year-old.
He was into it far longer than I thought he would be, but by the 50 minute mark he was wiggling, asking me questions and wishing that this was animated, had superheroes or fart jokes in it. And maybe that’s the point of Storm Boy, this is an old soul film that requires your attention and does deliver it in a dramatic fashion. There are also modern elements of guilt that older audience will roll their eyes at. The stereotypical teen daughter who is angry and her dad who is not listening to the press over environmental aspects of their business which strains the grandfather/son relationship and where the heck is the pelican to save this film??! That’s what I was thinking.
Pelicans are awesome. For older drama movie fans Storm Boy might be also, but younger audiences will tire of scenes where the pelican isn’t the star. Unfortunately, that would be for about 70% of the film. Storm Boy opens in theaters on April 5.
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