Cars 3

Lightning McQueen has it all - a loving Porsche girlfriend, a supportive group of friends from the small town of Radiator Springs, great memories of a former mentor who happened to be one of the greatest racers who ever lived, and fame found through the racetrack. He's living the good life, and doesn't see an end in sight. Until, that is, a new generation of race cars led by a hotshot named Jackson Storm come up in the ranks who are faster, and more capable on the track. As McQueen's old friends are slowly driven to retirement one by one, he struggles to remain relevant and show everyone that he still belongs. He eventually seeks out the help of Cruz Ramirez, a young trainer who once had dreams of her own of being a racer from growing up watching McQeen's career take off. Cruz Ramirez and Lightning McQueen work together to beat Jackson Storm and prove once and for all that they belong.

The Cars franchise isn't my favorite Pixar franchise, but for the most part I've enjoyed all three. Cars 3 gives Lightning McQueen a fitting - although somewhat predictable - checkered flag to his story and paves the way for a possible new generation of stories. Of course, it's nowhere near as good as the first one, but it holds its own well. I loved seeing Mater and the gang all show up again one last time. I'm not ashamed to admit I almost got a little emotional after realizing Pixar brought back the character of Hudson Hornet, voiced by Paul Newman, (in my opinion one of the best actors in Hollywood) who passed away back in 2008. From what I understand, the director took recordings from the first Cars movie that was both unused lines as well as recorded conversations between Paul and the director about Paul's love of racing, and used that to bring back the character of Hudson Hornet to life.

Pixar's best known for their uncanny ability to make animated movies that both kids and adults can enjoy. Cars 3 continues this tradition by making a good balance between good, clean comedy for both kids and adults, and more serious, yet teachable moments. It was good to see Pixar continuing to stick with that formula.

All in all, Cars 3 is a wonderful ending to the Cars franchise. There is a (very) small part of me that wonders whether a fourth - or more- installment or spinoffs would be good to see, but for now I think it would be best to let it rest. If you get the chance, especially if you have young kids, go see Cars 3.

Wonder Woman

For Diana, it ain't easy being the only child on a mystical island (Themyscira) of warrior women. Add that to the fact that she was molded in clay and given life by the god Zeus, and you have one special girl destined to do great things. Hippolyta, Diana's mother, knows what's in store for her as she grows older, so she tries to keep Diana out of trouble and not learn about her true background. That all changes when an airplane carrying a lone pilot named Steve Trevor comes crashing on to the island. As Diana gets to know Steve, she finds out that the world outside of the island is in a state of turmoil due to being in what has become known to be "The War To End All Wars". The more Diana hears of the war, the more she comes to believe that Ares, the god of war is responsible for the conflict. Against her mother's wishes, Diana leaves the island and heads to the frontline with Steve and a few of his war buddies to confront Ares and kill him once and for all so that the war can come to an end.

I know the DCCU (DC Comics Cinematic Universe) has gotten a bad rap for most, if not all of their movies lately since jumpstarting a connected universe. Personally, I think they've all been relatively good. I'm going to have to go back and watch them all again, but as of now I'd probably rank Wonder Woman as the best DCCU film to date, with Man of Steel a very close second. Like I mentioned in my review of Deadpool, Wonder Woman actually feels like a superhero film as opposed to an action/adventure film that just happens to have superheroes. Heck, I'm not sure I can remember the last time I've had so much fun in a comic book movie. It's been far too long, that's for sure. The scene in Dead Man's Land alone makes the movie worthwhile. I loved Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince in BvS in her short cameo, and now that she has her own movie to shine, I can say she was the perfect choice to portray Diana. Up until now, she hadn't been given a good movie to really show what she's capable of, and so it's good to see her finally get that chance. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor also shines in what is possibly his best role to date.

I'd also venture to say Wonder Woman gives the audience something else which has been lacking in not only DC or Marvel, but movies in general as well - a genuine hero/heroine. It can be a good storytelling device to make your hero/heroes flawed, but every so often it's just better to see a genuine good vs. evil story without any other convoluted baggage trying to come up with a complex story. I hope to see some more of this in both the DCCU, as well as in other Hollywood movies in the future.

The Mummy (2017)

What would you do if you found out you were chosen to be the human vessel of an ancient, dark power? No, I'm not talking about Sam Winchester becoming Lucifer's vessel on the TV show Supernatural (great show by the way), or the Antichrist in general. I'm talking about Set, the Egyptian god of death and destruction. You see, it seems that an Egyptian princess named Ahmanet made a pact with Set to bring him into our world via a human sacrifice of sorts in exchange for power and plunging the world into complete and utter evil. Before she can accomplish this, Egyptian gaurds capture her, and as punishment mummify her alive. Fast forward almost 5,000 years later, and a glorified grave robber named Nick Morton - with the help of some colleagues and the Army - stumbles upon her tomb and unwittingly unleashes Ahmanet onto the world to wreak havoc once again.

I wasn't expecting much, yet even then The Mummy was better than I had hoped. If you're hoping that this latest adaptation was more of the Indiana Jones-esque adventure like the Brendan Fraser trilogy from a few years go...eh, you'll be partially pleased. This latest one is far darker and more horror based than its predecessor, but it manages to find a good balance between horror and action/adventure. The trailers for the movie didn't really help much in making it look like something people would want to see, but it really wasn't that bad overall. I certainly don't think it deserves the title of worst Tom Cruise movie ever. Then again, I tend to be a bit more forgiving that most when it comes to entertainment.

Similar to Enchantress in Suicide Squad, Sofia Boutella as Ahmanet wasn't given all that much to work with. Yet what little we see from her was really good, and really creepy. I also enjoyed Annabelle Wallis as the archaeologist Jenny Halsey. She was more than just a stereotypical damsel in distress/love interest for Tom Cruise's main character. As far as Tom Cruise himself goes, this isn't his worst role, but I wouldn't rank it too high on his list of great roles to date.

As pretty much everyone knows by now, The Mummy is set to be the starting point for a connected "Dark Universe", where all of Universal Studio's classic monsters - Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, possibly Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein's Monster (and his bride), along with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera - will be coming together. It's still not clear whether it will be similar to Marvel/Dc Comics, where the monsters will team up to destroy a greater evil, or if it'll be more like Freddy vs. Jason, a "Fight Night" of sorts where they all try to kill each other. Either way, I'm personally interested in where this Dark Universe is heading. Between you and me, I'm hoping it's more of a "Fight Night". My only wish is that Dracula Untold was a part of it, but I understand the reasons behind that decision.

If you're looking for a couple hours to kill, The Mummy is a pretty good way to do so. Here's hoping it's an uphill climb from here for the rest of the Monster Mash.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Some heroes heed the call to be a leader from the moment the need arises. Others, such as Jyn Erso, are more or less thrust into the role unexpectedly following some life-changing event(s). Jyn has been an outcast for most of her life. Homeless and on the run from the Galactic Empire from a young age, she's learned to survive on her own, rarely looking to others for support. What little support she does receive comes from a former guerrilla fighter named Saw Gerrera from the planet Onderon. Her journey on the run comes to a halt when she runs into a group of freedom fighters who are on a mission from the Rebel Alliance. What seems like chance and/or a stroke of good luck, however, is anything but. Jyn learns from the Rebels that they are on a mission to intercept information on a new powerful weapon being developed by the Empire called the Death Star. Jyn is hesitant to join the Rebellion until she learns that her father is being kept hostage by the Empire and the head of the Death Star project named Orson Krennic.

Aside from the somewhat awkward title (let's face it, "A Star Wars Story" really wasn't needed in the title to separate it from the main episodes), Rogue One is a worthy addition to the Star Wars film universe. I was a bit skeptical that a movie set so close to the first in the original trilogy was needed, since the backstory was basically told during A New Hope (and no, I'm not talking about the "many Bothans died to bring us this information" speech, I know that was from Return of the Jedi involving the second Death Star), but...WOW. I loved it.

For starters, I loved the feel of the film. It really was gritty and felt like a war movie set in space rather than "just another Star Wars film". I know I use this term a lot in my reviews...and probably overuse it...but the war aspect really was brutal and a welcome change from what we've seen before. I've got to hand it to Disney for taking a chance and stepping away for a bit from the more space adventure-esque feel. The Force Awakens was a good start (don't get me started on the whole "it was a remake of A New Hope" argument, all I'll say is that I wholeheartedly disagree), but Rogue One was better, at least in that aspect. As a whole though, from reading other people's reviews/reactions I think I'm in the minority when I say that I think The Force Awakens is honestly overall a better movie. And yes, I know I'm probably going to get a LOT of crap for that.

Considering I can't say much else on what I loved for fear of posting spoilers, I'll just say this: I was ecstatic to hear James Earl Jones as Darth Vader again, and the original trilogy "fan service" (nods to the previous movies, inclusion of beloved characters, etc.) was handled better than The Force Awakens.

Now for the bad - which thankfully is a short list. Rogue One is a beautifully shot film with some gorgeous visuals...until two original trilogy characters show up. The CGI to recreate these characters *was* better than how a situation such as this has been handled in the past ( Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy comes to mind as a not-so-good CGI recreated younger version of a character), however it was still too easy to tell that they were CGI recreations. One was handled better than the other (I'm not sure I want to say who so as not to give up too many spoilers), but they could have used a bit of work.

The editing as far as the story goes was a little bit choppy in the beginning. Not so much that it's too hard to follow, but it disrupted the overall flow of the movie. After Jyn's first encounter with the Rebel team is where I thought the movie found its stride and evened itself out.

There are other smaller things I had problems with, but again, I can't really specify them without getting a bit spoiler-happy. I might post an extended review after seeing it again and waiting for it to be out for a few weeks.

One last thing, for which I'm not sure whether I'd specify it as a good or bad thing: I've read some reviews saying they saw the character of Jyn Erso as just another "Social Justice Warrior (SJW)" character put in the film to further an agenda. I don't see how they came to that conclusion. Could be just me though. I didn't see her as anymore of a SJW character than some people claimed Rey was in The Force Awakens. I didn't think Rey was much of one either.

My overall verdict: As mentioned above, Rogue One is a worthy addition to the Star Wars franchise, and make me actually pretty excited for what's to come in the future - for both the spinoffs and the main episodes. I will most definitely be seeing it again and getting it on DVD once it's out.

Anthropoid

It's the height of World War II, and Hitler has invaded Czechoslovakia and put in charge his third in command, a ruthless dictator in his own right named Reinhard Heydrich. As the occupying leader, he is the architect of something called the Final Solution - an ultimate plan to wipe out the Jewish population from the face of the earth. In order to end the Final Solution as well as the general reign of terror in Czechoslovakia, a handful of Czech and Slovak soldiers conspire with the government to assassinate Heydrich. They called this plan: Operation Anthropoid.

I'm sure there's quite a few people who might be tired of seeing movies based on the time period of both World Wars, if only (probably) for the reason that they are all beginning to seem to look and feel the same. Where most war movies focus a bit too much on the action and not terribly much on the drama and suspense, Anthropoid does the exact opposite. It focuses almost entirely on the planning and secrecy surrounding the plot to kill Reinhard Heydrich, and only in the third act does the audience see the plan go into fruition. Personally, I loved that. I love war movies in general, but every once in awhile it's nice to see one that doesn't completely rely on extravagantly cool visuals during the war scenes. I could feel the tension in the air when it seemed the conspirators were going to be caught, the thrill of excitement when it finally all came together. One of my favorite actors, Cillian Murphy, did well as one of the main characters named Josef Gabcik. Jamie Dornan, a.k.a. Mr. Christian Grey, did pretty well as Josef's partner Jan Kubis during the assassination plot. Charlotte Le Bon - whom I last saw in The Hundred Foot Journey - and Anna Geislerová were wonderful as the two women who Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis meet up with and ask for help in their assassination plot. Not to mention, but from some of the things I've read, real life locations in Prague were used to invoke a natural feel to the film as opposed to creating the sets in a studio.

There's very little I'd consider negative. There were a couple of places where the accents were so thick that it was a bit difficult to understand what was being said, but I could still follow what was going on onscreen, so it wasn't a huge deal. It's also rated R, and a war movie at that, so I would not recommend parents take their young kids to see it.

For World War II history buffs and war movie lovers, I would wholeheartedly recommend seeing Anthropoid. It's a great historically based film that shows a different side to World War II than what is typically shown. To me, that makes it even better.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

In the year since defeating Shredder and keeping him from destroying New York City Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael have been living in the shadows underground in the city's sewers out of the prying eyes of the masses. Their friend Vernon agreed to take credit for defeating Shredder, and since then has been living the life as the "hero" of the city. Even though they all agree that his arrangement is best for everyone, life has been tough for the turtles. Raphael has been taking it the hardest, believing that they should be up on top continuing to help keep the city safe. As it turns out, they just might get their chance, as Shredder has returned, and he's got a new evil ally - an alien by the name of Krang. The mutant ninja turtle brothers once again have to step out of the shadows and work together in order to defeat Shredder once more, with the help of April O'Neil, Vernon and a new ally named Casey Jones.

I can't really believe I'm saying this, but I enjoyed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, I did kind of enjoy the first one as well. This one and the 2014 reboot obviously aren't meant to be great movies, more like a "check your brain at the door and just enjoy it" type. It's got plot holes on top of plot holes, with a really simple storyline, but there's something about it that was just a lot of fun. Personally, I thought the first one was better - better story, better characters, etc. - but Out of the Shadows was surprisingly well done. I guess what gets me the most is the fact that I'm not even really a TMNT fan to begin with. I've seen one or two of the older live-action films and thought they were completely stupid (don't even get me started on Secret of the Ooze...I couldn't even get through the first 30 minutes of it). I especially liked the characters of Bebop and Rocksteady. They played the stupid-but-funny henchman role pretty well.

The only things I didn't think were that good were Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman and Stephen Amell as Casey Jones. Nothing against them personally, it's just that it felt like their characters were both not given very meaningful parts, so their characters were just...there. It's like the story wouldn't have changed much whether or not their characters were included. I got a little annoyed at that considering I do like both actors a lot. Each of their full potential felt wasted. The character of Shredder also felt a bit wasted, but not quite as badly.

As much as I enjoyed both Out of the Shadows and the first TMNT, I'm not sure I would like a third one. I would certainly go see it if/when a third one comes out, but it's not really something I'm totally looking forward to. If you have kids who love the cartoons, or if you enjoyed the older live action movies, I think it's a good movie to see. As mentioned, it's stupid, but it's fun.

Star Trek Beyond

It might seem exciting to have the opportunity to "...explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before". Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the Starship Enterprise have undoubtedly had many adventures during the first 2-3 years of their mandated 5 year journey through unknown space. To be fair though, even while discovering new civilizations and expanding one's knowledge of the known universe, it can be easy to become, shall we say, complacent, to the point where such a journey eventually loses its appeal. Captain Kirk begins to wonder if it's time to leave the captain's chair and explore other opportunities in Starfleet. His best friend and right hand man Spock is feeling the same way - he contemplates leaving Starfleet and spearheading an attempt to rebuild the Vulcan homeworld. Both Kirk and Spock must set aside their ambitions for the time being, however, as they are sent on a mission to look into an abandoned ship which had been attacked by an unknown enemy. Their rescue mission turns out to be a trap, and so Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew are taken captive by a brutal, violent and cunning alien by the name of Krall.

Star Trek Beyond is the third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise, and it's safe to say that it's a heck of a wild ride from start to finish. It's easy to see the influence of some of director Justin Lin's other movies such as the Fast and the Furious franchise. The action sequences definitely had a Fast and Furious in space feel to them. Not necessarily an entirely *bad* thing, but also not necessarily a *great* thing either. Especially when action such as the sequences found in Fast and the Furious can possibly be considered a dime a dozen. I don't mean that in the sense that it was all just mindless action per se, but rather the adrenaline-racing pace of the action was obviously similar. As an action movie lover myself, I had a lot of fun in the theater. I could also see a notable difference in the writing between Beyond and the previous rebooted movies. With Simon Pegg in charge of script writing duties, I could see the tone of Beyond grow closer to the original, more philosophical idea of what Star Trek is, and not another Fast and the Furious clone. I hope that trend continues onto the next installment.

That said, Star Trek Beyond is not without its problems. I liked Idris Elba as Krall well enough, but it felt like something was missing to make him a truly memorable villain. I'm not really sure if it was his motivations behind his actions I didn't like, or something else, but either way I was left wanting just a bit more from him. The script did have a pretty creative way to bring Krall into conflict with the crew of the Enterprise, so that in and of itself was a plus. As mentioned above, the action is pretty thrilling and adrenaline-pumping, but (mild spoiler) the way in which Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise defeated Krall was admittedly a little weird. I'm not sure if I'd say it was bad, it certainly was creative, but I feel like a less outlandish way to defeat Krall would have been better. Really the only other true beef I had with the movie was the soundtrack. Maybe it's just me, but the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy doesn't really seem like the type of music I would normally associate with a movie/series such as Star Trek. But that's probably just me.

As far as the rebooted franchise goes, Star Trek Beyond is probably my second favorite. I'm one of the (apparently) few who greatly enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness, and it also happens to be my favorite of the reboots. Star Trek Beyond is yet another exciting, adrenaline-pumping ride through space that leaves me anxious to see what is coming next. Side note: I know it's probably a long way off, but I really am hoping sometime in the future for a new adaptation of The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine. I guess we shall see if it happens.