Lost City

 

Lost City is an action adventure comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. It is the story of grieving romance author, Loretta Sage, who writes about the treasures of ancient cities. When she reluctantly takes on a book tour with her cover model, Alan, she is kidnapped by eccentric billionaire, Abigail Fairfax, who wants her help finding treasures of a lost prehistoric city.

The script was cute with some funny bits. There were great themes around grief, love and authenticity. The plot was entertaining with an engaging and unique plot twist.

Sandra and Channing had strong chemistry and played well off of one another. I liked how this was a strong female-led film. Sandra’s character, Loretta, was fully formed. You were able to see the evolution from a recluse to a confident, brave and adventurous person. 

There was a descent amount of diversity in the casting with the addition of Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Oscar Nuñez. Da'Vine Joy Randolph brought the comedy although her main monologue was really corny and not needed. I didn't love Oscar's role, I thought it was too creepy, but I did love Brad Pitt’s cameo. It was unexpected and he was actually quite funny as well. Daniel Radcliffe is starting to get typecast. I would have liked to see his character in a different light. Overall, the majority of the cast fun to watch but were one dimensional. I would have liked to see a deeper dive on everyone, especially Channing’s character Alan.

In the end, Lost City was a fun movie. Not necessarily one I would watch again, but not a bad choice for a lazy Saturday afternoon. 

Top Gun: Maverick

 

Top Gun: Maverick is the long awaited action sequel to 1986's Top Gun. The film stars Tom Cruise reprising his role as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. He’s now a test pilot that has managed to stay in the military while still pushing the envelope for the last three decades. But not everyone wants him to succeed so as a final straw he is sent to the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program aka "Top Gun", where he must train a group of younger, top in class pilots, for a highly dangerous top secret mission, while also coming to terms with his own past.

Rarely is a sequel, which is made 30+ years after the original even close to as good, but this was an exception to the rule. I was pleasantly surprised with this film. It was the perfect way to bring in the nostalgia of the original in the soundtrack and in parts of plot while also giving a refreshing new story. The film was full of high action sequences and the script was funny but also at times quite emotionally charged. The themes around forgiveness, growth and moving on were also prevalent throughout.

I thought that Tom Cruise did a great job leading this cast which was a mix of seasoned actors and new comers. He picked right up where he left off with Maverick, which was kind of a disappointment that his character hadn’t evolved much over the last 36 years. He was still struggling with letting things go in his past and a lot of his decision making was still career stunting. He and Miles Teller played well off of one another. I have seen Miles in a couple of movies now and can see the range he has. He brought in a quite leadership while also having this underlying anger and trauma of past. He was the perfect casting for the role of Rooster. The character development for Maverick and Rooster was strong and you really felt connected to and wanted to root for them. The rest of the characters in the cast weren't as developed with the majority of them being one dimensional. I would have liked to see a deeper dive on the 10 or so actors that were supposed to be the important pieces to this Top Gun class. Additionally, there was a descent amount of diversity with the extras but the main characters were all white and mostly male. It would have been nice to see a wider difference in ethnicities and genders for the main cast.  

Even with those critiques, Top Gun: Maverick was still one of my favorite movies that has come out this year. I would definitely recommend this film for all. I’d also suggest bringing some tissues as there were quite a few teary moments. And if you haven’t seen the 1986 classic, I would just suggest watching that one first, so that you could fully appreciate all of the call backs from it. 

Senior Year

 

Senior Year is the Netflix produced comedy starring Rebel Wilson. Wilson plays Stephanie, a high school popular girl and head cheerleader who thinks she has her dream life planned out, only to be subjected to a life altering, sabotaging injury that puts her in a coma for 20 years. When she wakes up she has to figure out how she’s going to move forward with her life.

The plot was a cool idea but the script ended up being very predictable and also unrealistic at times. It gave me Never Been Kissed and Easy A vibes. There were funny parts but there were also a lot of awkward, cringey parts and plenty of corny jokes too. I liked the references to the early 2000s with the music, fashion and the homages to Brittany Spears were also cute.

I appreciated the diversity in gender, sexual identity and ethnicity in the casting, however the majority of those minority cast members were one dimensional. I would have liked a deeper dive into those characters stories. Rebel did a great job leading the cast. Her character was complex; a juvenile in a woman’s body, someone who was immature and selfish at times but deep down had a good heart.

Overall Senior Year was an entertaining and heartfelt film with great themes around not letting high school define you, being your authentic self and only caring about what the people who love you think about you. Even though this isn’t a movie I would watch again, it was still a fun mood lifter.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong. The film is directed by Sam Raimi and follows Doctor Stephen Strange and Wong who must team up together to protect a multiverse jumping child who is being hunted for her power.

It’s been a while since Raimi was in the director seat for a superhero movie. The last few that he directed were from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, which was almost 20 years ago. Those were my least favorite of the Spider-Man films and unfortunately Raimi’s filmmaking in this genre hasn’t improved much. Even with last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home perfectly teeing this up, I still found this movie to be a bit of a disappointment. 

The plot was supposed to be close to the comics, which I'm sure the purists will appreciate, however some of the visuals just don’t translate well to screen. There were quite a few bits that they could have taken out or toned down. Also, the cinematography was another Inception style edit, which is honestly getting a bit old. There was also too long of a gap in between the 2016 movie and this one. I had forgotten I lot of the backstory between Doctor Strange and his counterparts. And the attempt at filling the audience back in was weak at best. 

Regarding casting, I did like that they brought in Elizabeth Olsen, who played Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch. The script was able to fill in her past few years a bit, but I do think for those to fully understand her current arc, you would need to go back and watch the Disney+ TV show, WandaVision. It helps to fill in more of her complicated journey. I know that some felt like she was overacting but I thought it was more of a manic, desperate act, which made sense based off of the trauma she experienced with Vision and her children. Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor, he has definitely evolved the character of Doctor Strange to a more likeable hero vs the first film. For the rest of the cast, I liked the diversity in the group, there were some strong female characters that could hold their own, and there were some cool multiverse character introductions that will hopefully make some possible spinoffs in the future.

Overall Doctor Strange is a great character when infused in an Avenger movie or a Spider-Man movie. As a co-star I feel like he lets his serious guard down and is actually a lot funnier, but on his own, I’m just not as engaged in his story. This movie was better than 2016's Doctor Strange with an action packed and unpredictable plot but it still didn't meet the Marvel standard that I am accustomed to. It is unfortunate, with all the acting talent, that these movies aren’t better.

Ambulance

Ambulance is the story of a bank robbery gone badly that ended up turning into a hostage situation starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González. Directed and produced by Michael Bay.

Many say that this was Bay’s “return to form”. In the cinematography you could see his influence with the aerial shots and helicopter usage. At times I thought I was watching Bad Boys.

This heist movie was formulaic in the screenplay. It was a typical plot with nothing that was particularly original, but I still enjoyed the high action and suspenseful ride.

I liked the diverse casting of Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González. There was descent character development for the three main leads but I would have liked a bit deeper dive to have really been able to connect to each to them. Gyllenhaal commanded the screen as Danny Sharp; he was tactical, vicious, and was a force to be reckoned with. He gave a wide range in his performance which I really enjoyed. Yahya, whom I’ve seen in a number of different roles now, gave me a different side to himself by playing Will Sharp. He did great at playing the more kindhearted, down on his luck, wrong guy in the wrong place. Eiza who played EMT Cam Thompson, one of the only females in the film, gave a strong performance, she held her own, and she was resourceful and brave.

Ambulance reminded me of The Town mixed with Cut Throat City. It was a bit slow moving at times, I felt like they could have cut some of the chase sequences out altogether and I wasn’t entirely pleased with the end. Even though I wanted a bit more closure there I was still pleasantly surprised by the quality of this film.

Uncharted

 

Uncharted is an action adventure movie based off of the video game of the same name starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. When streetwise Nathan Drake is recruited by treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan to search for riches lost 500 years prior, Drake must use his wits to figure out the clues to the treasure while also uncovering if Sully and his accomplices are trustworthy.

The plot was high action but I had a feeling, even from the previews that the story was going to be a bit one dimensional and predictable, which is how it unfortunately turned out. The script was lazy with lame one-liner jokes. The cinematography at the beginning was very video game-y and unrealistic and some of the props looked cheap and fake.

The fight choreography was well done and creative. Tom Holland and his stunt man have some incredible athleticism that worked really well in the action and fight sequences.

Even though I never played the video game, it was a nice bridge from the game to the film to have the original voice actor for Nathan Drake, Nolan North, make a small cameo in the movie. Regarding the rest of the casting, Tom Holland was entertaining and the best part of the film. His character was likeable and had a great evolution from naivety to savvy. I also appreciated that they tried to add a bit of diversity in the casting as well. Where they dropped the ball for me was that there were only two women cast. This was a bit of a letdown as it would have been nice to see a bit more gender diversity in this heavily male dominated movie. Even though there were only two women, who didn’t have very strong character development and were both portrayed as untrustworthy, I at least appreciated that they were independent leads that could handle their own.

In the end, the only really good thing about Uncharted was the action and fight choreography. It didn’t give me enough in the script or character development to want to see this movie again nor would I seek out the sequel that this movie has been primed for.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

 

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the third installment within the Wizarding World franchise. Picking up after Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald, Newt Scamander has been tasked by Professor Albus Dumbledore to put together a team to try to take down Grindelwald; whose power of persuasion is rising.

I don’t understand why critics didn’t like this movie. I really enjoyed it. I thought that plot moved well; it was a great mix of action and storytelling. And the themes around corruption in politics and how divisive language can seep in the minds of others was so relevant, even today. It also helped to answer a lot of questions from the first two movies.

As always, these Fantastic Beasts movies are great at casting for diversity. I liked that they brought back William Nadylam who played Yusuf Kama. They expanded on his role and gave him a bit more context so that you could understand his drive even more. I also enjoyed the addition of Jessica Williams who played a wizard professor named Eulalie "Lally" Hicks. She was probably one of my favorite characters. She was smart, witty and resourceful. Even though I would have preferred Johnny Depp to have reprised his role as Gellert Grindelwald, Mads Mikkelsen did a great job filling his shoes. He also had really strong chemistry with Jude Law who once again took up the mantel as Professor Dumbledore. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander. He plays him so well. There is a kindness and an eccentricity to him. You always want to root for him. He really comes into his own on this one, stepping up to do what is right. I also liked his dynamic with his brother, Theseus Scamander, played by Callum Turner. They are such different characters but know each other's strengths so well and respect one another for it. 

I came out of this movie so filled with joy. I was excited for this one, and look forward to watching it again. It also made me excited for potentially another one. Although it had not been confirmed I hope that they continue this story as there is still so much to be uncovered in this fun, action packed joy ride.