The Family That Wrestles Together (Fighting With My Family, 2019)

Fighting With My Family is the story of wrestler Paige. Coming from a lower class family obsessed with wrestling, Zayara and Zak dream of the big time wrestling. When they try out for WWE, only Zayara is selected, crushing her brother. But when she tells him she won’t go, he lets her know he cannot take this away from her.

And so, Fighting With My Family takes us on Zayara’s journey to becoming the WWE Diva Paige.

As someone who has little knowledge of Wrestling beyond knowing who the Rock is, I cannot verify the accuracy of the film. What I can confirm is that this is a fun film with a lot of heart. Florence Pugh is incredibly sympathetic and lovable. The film does not make her pure of heart, she learns some hard lessons, like not seeing the other women as enemies. As she grows, she pulls others with her.

The relationship that becomes most strained is Paige and her brother Zak. He struggles with the idea that he cannot be where she is at. And it drives him away from everything good in his life for a time. The Rock is charming as usual.

This is a good little inspirational sports film worth a watch.

May 21, 2020 0

Same Old Story (Long Shot, 2019)

Have you heard about this movie where the schlubby guy hooks up with a hot chick out of his league? You know…the plot of, like, 77% of rom-coms? I mean…Seth Rogan? He is a type…

Rogan is Fred Flarsky, a lefty journalist who finds himself out of a job when his paper is bought by Parker Wembly (an unrecognizable Andy Serkis as a Rupert Murdoch type media mogul). At a party, he runs into his old baby sitter Charlotte Field, about to enter the ring as a presidential candidate.

Charlotte hires him to punch up her speeches and slowly, the pair find themselves falling for each other, in spite of the fact that her staff think this is a very bad idea, mainly because… well, Fred is a potential liability. He is a casual drug user, he has no filter and well…there is more.

And really? In the hands of less talented a less talented creative team and cast? This might have been an embarrassment of cliches. I mean, this film certainly follows all the tropes, right to the end. And yet, I never found myself caring. The film is funny, the characters endearing…I rooted for them to succeed. Theron and Rogan are great and I did not find myself questioning what she could see in him.

Long Shot is a terrific comedy that shows that you can actually follow the Rom Com template and make a very entertaining film.

May 20, 2020 0

Imitation of Life (Scoob!, 2020)

So, originally, May was bringing the first theatrical Scooby Doo film in over a decade. Thanks to a Pandemic (and no doubt a hope by the studio to replicate the success of Trolls World Tour on VOD) it is instead reaching us in our homes.

Opening with a tale of how the gang met, the film jumps to the present, where an investor wants to financially support the Mystery Inc gang…as long as they leave out Shaggy and Scooby. Before the gang knows what is happening, Scooby and Shaggy run off on their own. When the two are attacked by robots, they are rescued by the Blue Falcon and his trusty partners Deedee and Dynomutt.

At first the duo are thrilled at the idea of hanging out with their favorite super-hero, but as Scooby seems to be drawn towards the Falcon’s adventure, Shaggy starts to become jealous. At the same time the Blue Falcon is doubting himself as a hero, fearing he can never match up to his father, the previous Blue Falcon. All the while the rest of the gang is trying to locate Scooby and Shaggy before the villain Dick Dastardly does so that he can unveil his evil master plan.

Scoob! is entertaining, though probably, kids will enjoy it far more than adults. The plot gets a little convoluted, eschewing the traditional Scooby Doo format of a simple mystery that needs unmasking and goes for a big and over the top plot. It is pretty clear that part of the purpose of Scoob! was to set up a Hannah-Barbara extended universe of films. And that sometimes overtakes the film. Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley are here…we meet Captain Caveman and the end credits suggest future appearances by characters such as Jabberjaw and Atom Ant.

The film is trying really hard to be current and hip, which generally fails to work. I watched Scoob! with my nephews. They actually liked the film…but when we are introduced to the Blue Falcon, he dabs. My nine year old nephew states (and this is a direct quote) “He dabbed!!! That is SO SAD!!!! Nobody dabs anymore!”

Another area that hurt the film for me a bit was the voice cast. Since the death of Casey Kasem, Matthew Lillard has provided the voice of Shaggy. And he really is the voice (and managed to really capture the feel in the live action films as well). Grey Delisle Griffin has been the voice of Daphne Blake for nearly twenty years. I get that they are trying to be a new youthful take, but kids don’t see movies for the voice actors. And no disrespect is meant to Will Forte…but the end result here is that Shaggy sounds like someone trying to approximate the sound of Shaggy. I feel like it is a bit of a loss on our part that Lillard and DeLisle Griffin were not invited to return. It is pretty clear both love the characters and that is just missing here. While it is very clear they were disappointed, both actors have responded with a lot of grace.

One thing I did really like is the basic animation style. It walks a nice line of bringing the 2D animation to life. I really enjoy how they recreated the original opening Scooby Doo, Where Are You? title opener in the new style, so we get some fun throwbacks to the classic Scooby Doo monsters. And there is some neat 2D art used with the end credits.

Overall, Scoob! is not a disaster, but it is a whole more likely to entertain kids more than those with affection for the classic mystery solving team.

May 18, 2020 0

Soldiers for Life (VFW, 2020)

When a young woman runs into their VFW with a bag of stolen drugs a group of veterans find themselves have to fight vicious drug addicts hell bent on getting the drugs back.

I don’t have a lot to say here. The main draw is a really good cast of “Old Tough Guys” and George Wendt (who is a great actor, just not known for his tough guy roles). It is a pretty standard siege movie along the lines of an Assault on Precinct 13.

This is a violent and bloody film, but does a good job leaning into it’s tropes and not worrying too much about being some sort of heady exploration of themes. You just watch this for a wild and crazy action flick.

May 15, 2020 0

Super Cops III (Bad Boys for Life, 2020)

Who wasted a perfect title for a fourth film???? Seriously people… Bad Boys 4 Life.

Seventeen years after the last film, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are back. A little older, a bit…um…thicker…but they are back. Burnett is desperate to retire and spend time with his wife and new granddaughter. Mike wants to keep being the badass cop.

But when there is an assassination attempt on Lowrey, they are called into action to try and determine who the killer is.

Bad Boys for life focuses on the impact of past choices, getting older, family and trust. Like, this is the first film to not make a joke about the closeness of these two men. It treats their friendship as noble and good, not something to be embarrassed by.

The stakes get raised and while certain twists are not super original, they do work. The action sequences are incredibly easy to follow along with, yet still exciting.

Seriously, this is the best film in this franchise and I found myself curious for the clearly set up fourth film. Bad Boys for Life is exciting, has depth the other two films lacked and was just a lot of fun to watch overall.

May 14, 2020 0

Super Cops II (Bad Boys II, 2003)

The Boys are back. The bickering couple stuff returns. The hot babes as props returns. The Gay subtext of the relationship of Lowrey and Burnett is here again. The fast and confusing visuals are back.

Honestly, I found the second Bad Boys film painfully tedious. There are few bright spots. I mean, Gabrielle Union is good. Peter Stormare is always fun. But this film tired me out quick.

May 13, 2020 0

Super Cops (Bad Boys, 1995)

In 1995 Will Smith was still primarily known as the Fresh Prince (with a lot of acclaim for his role in Six Degrees of Separation) and Martin Lawrence was riding high with a successful sitcom, stand-up and supporting roles in film. And Michael Bay? He had directed music videos.

Bad Boys is set in Miami and follows the exploits of two risk taking cops with attitude, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. When there is a heist that steals all the drugs from a recent major bust right from under the noses of the Drug Task Force’s vaults, they start trying to determine how it happened. When a call girl, Julie, calls in demanding to speak with Lowrey. This leads to “comic hijinks” as, since Mike is not in, Burnett pretends to be Lowrey.

This forced Mike to stay with Marcus’ family as they pretend to be each other to keep the trust of Julie. They take shots at each other via putting themselves down and so on. This is the Bickering Couple style of buddy cops, in the vein of Riggs and Murtaugh. Except, Mike has no death wish, instead he perceives himself as super awesome and is very into style and appearance. Like, I have no idea what a detective in Miami makes, but I still feel like it is very likely they cannot afford the lavish lifestyle of Mike Lowrey.

This film kicks off poorly aging humor about how it sure seems like they are a couple and both men getting hyper sensitive about it. Bay’s use of women as either unpleasant scold wives/authorities or hot objects is on full display here.

It can be hard to follow the action and the film often feels more like it is a bunch of rock videos strung together.

Bad Boys really cemented Bay’s style very early on and not really for the best. A lot of his weaknesses on display here have carried on through his career.

May 12, 2020 0

There Will Be Bloodshot (Bloodshot, 2020)

Back in 1987, Jim Shooter was fired from Marvel Comics. He had a tumultuous tenure as the Editor in Chief which saw a lot of success, but also a lot of enemies made. Two years later he fought his way back into comics with Valiant Comics. Valiant had made a splash and built a following. However, they never managed to get a share of the greater public recognition of companies like Marvel, DC or Image. The company has gone in and out of business, moving from owner to owner. In 2018 the majority owner DMG fully purchased the company and apparently focused on pushing their characters beyond comics. The first of a possible shared universe would be Bloodshot starring Vin Diesel. To be honest…I have one Bloodshot comic book from 1993 and I cannot remember the story at all. I know just enough…he is a super soldier full of nanotech.

We are introduced to Ray Garrison, top soldier who is killed along with his wife after a mission. He wakes up later, told he is the first successful Super Soldier project of his nature. He is introduced to team mate who have high tech enhancements to compensate for lost limbs or sight, or in the case of KT, a specialized breather that both allows her to breath and to be able to breathe gasses and even underwater. When he regains his memory of the murder of his wife, he goes rogue to kill the man who murdered her.

But after accomplishing this, it is revealed that the memories are manipulated by the people responsible for his nano tech. When a mission goes wrong, he learns the depths of the manipulation and is determined to get his life back.

Bloodshot is a very simple tale, and does not really add any new beats. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are fighting against the odds. Guy Pearce does a good job of coming across as possibly a good guy losing control of his work during act one, but clearly a dark and greedy villain once it is all revealed. Eiza González is sympathetic as KT, trapped by her desire to, you know, not die.

Vin Diesel is good in the role, as it kind of plays to his strengths.

David Wilson is a visual effects guy making his feature debut, and he gives us a pretty solid action movie. The effects look good, and I genuinely liked the visuals showing Bloodshot’s powers at work.

The film ends open wide for sequels, but does not hint at a bigger universe, so I am not sure what the future holds for Valiant. But Bloodshot is a fun super soldier action film that makes for light entertainment.

May 11, 2020 1

Quicktime (Sonic the Hedgehog, 2020)

Sonic popularity came about at a time when I had no access to video games. So I watched a lot of the discourse around the film lacking any real skin in the game. There are two things that stood out. One was the initial trailer that drew outrage over the look of the Sonic. This led to the studio rushing back to the drawing board and aggressively redesigning and animating an all new Sonic model. Since the movie was released, it seems pretty universal that the altered model is a big improvement.

The second issue seemed to revolve around how relevant this would be for young kids. One example is that on Fandom’s Charting with Dan, Dan Murrell and Lon Harris asked if kids really cared about Sonic. But honestly, at the time, the only reason I expected to see the movie, it was because my nephews liked Sonic and wanted to see the movie.

We are introduced to young Sonic, who lives on a magical island in another universe and is looked after by an Owl. She warns Sonic that he has special abilities that people will always want to exploit, and so he must always keep himself a secret. She gives him special rings of gold and explains to him that if trouble ever happens, he must escape to another universe using the rings. When they are attacked, Sonic is forced to leave on his own. He ends up in our world, where he spends the next ten years living in hiding.

He lives his life alone, pretending to have friendships with all the locals, with a special attachment to the local Sheriff, who he has named Donut Lord. Meanwhile, Donut Lo-uh Tom lives with his wife and is trying to chase a life of excitement by joining a larger police force. When Sonic accidentally causes a massive power outage with his powers, the U.S. Government sends out eccentric scientist Doctor Robotnik to find Sonic.

Tom finds himself road tripping with Sonic to San Francisco to locate his lost rings, bonding and trying to escape the grasp of Robotnik.

And you know…the movie is actually a lot of fun. Ben Schwartz voices Sonic with an excited child like quality. James Marsden is always a solid Every Man (in spite of his leading man good looks). And Jim Carrey is clearly having a blast here.

The CGI works pretty well, and successfully bridges the cartoonish and real.

I am not a huge fan of the whole “You can Never Share Your Secret” narratives, as it often feels kind of an easy setup. But for the most part, once the movie kicks into gear, you kind of forget about it until the end. Some of the humor falls flat (like the running jokes about Olive Garden).

But I was far more entertained by this film than I expected to be. Sonic is one of the more fun video game adaptions and makes for nice light entertainment.

May 8, 2020 0

Poison in the Well (Dark Waters, 2019)

Frankly, companies do not care about you. Amazon does not care about you. And chemical companies really do not care about you. And Dark Waters is about the fight to not just expose this to the world, but to hold polluters accountable for the destruction they have caused.

Dark Water is a legal drama that somehow manages to pace itself like some sort of action movie. It does not spend a lot of time establishing Ruffalo’s Rob Bilot. He is a lawyer and has a family, and quickly he finds a farmer, Wilbur Tennant, in his office demanding his help. Wilbur is certain that Dupont chemicals have been destroying the earth and cattle of his farm.

Hesitant at first Bilot does a little research…it does not take long for him to suspect Tennant is on to something. His firm is unsure at first, as they normally defend companies like Dupont. But as time passes and information comes in that seems more damning, top people in the firm start to share Bilot’s conviction.

One of the most effective aspects of this film is how they sell the paranoia and demoralizing nature that can be part of challenging the status quo. In one scene, a man Bilot believes he could trust tells him he is sending all their research. It is so many boxes, as they pull away it feels defeating. It is clear they were inundating Bilot with so much they hoped he would give up or never be able to process it all and therefore miss something.

Dark Waters spans over a decade, and sometimes the time jumps greatly between scenes. This method of transition lulls the viewer a bit as you kind of expect maybe jumping a couple years here and there…and then around 2006, the screen stays dark as the title card jumps year by year.

Mark Ruffalo gives a great performance and you see the years of not getting justice take their toll, the fear that he and his family are in danger.

Dark Waters got kind of overlooked last year, but it is worth locating and watching.

May 6, 2020 0