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X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (Blu-ray combo)

October 30, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Leave a comment

x-menapocalypsecoverGrade: B+/A-
Entire family: No
2016, 144 min., Color
20th Century Fox
Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief strong language, and some suggestive images
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

The Marvel Universe is a complicated one, and the X-Men movies are among the more demanding. Viewers are expected to juggle a lot of different characters in various incarnations, and to remember each complicated film as it builds upon the others—nine now, in all. That takes a memory better than mine, which is why I waited to review this until my son took a weekend off from college to visit home again. He’s a big fan and does manage to keep it all straight. We both enjoyed the film, though his verdict was that X-Men: Apocalypse wasn’t as good as X-Men: Days of Future Past—a B+/A- rather than a solid A or A-. Why? Because it did require even more recollection of details from previous films, and the narrative also jumps around more.

I came at it from a slightly different angle. What I do tend to remember are basic plot types, and X-Men: Apocalypse recycles a familiar one: an ancient Egyptian dark force of a “man” is resurrected and seeks to destroy x-menapocalypsescreen2the world and start anew. Whether it’s world conquest or revenge, we’ve seen variations on this theme ever since the first black-and-white presentation of The Mummy way back in 1932. Only this time it’s a mutant, the first mutant, that’s unleashed. As with a film like The Matrix, you may not understand every little nuance of exposition, but Apocalypse proceeds so confidently that you feel assured that it all fits together and makes perfect sense, even if you’re not getting it in the instant. Plus, it’s easy to tolerate any momentary confusion because you’re soaking in the inventive special effects that, conceptually, rank among the best in this series. That’s something my son and I agreed was a major strength, and the sort of thing that will make you want to watch this film over and over. This X-Men is more violent that some of the previous installments, with one of the most brutal scenes the result of a surprise appearance by Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

James McAvoy returns as Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, the telepathic genius who started a school for “gifted” teens—that term a euphemism for the catch-all phrase “mutants.” Among those also returning are Michael x-menapocalypsescreen1Fassbender as metal-manipulating Erik/Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as shapeshifter Raven/Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as the super strong Hank/Beast, Evan Peters as the Flash-like Peter/Quicksilver, and Lucas Till as plasma-blasting Havok. Replacing other actors this time around are Lana Condor as Jubilee, Tye Sheridan as Scott/Cyclops, Olivia Munn as Psylocke, and Ben Hardy as Angel. But it’s the new people that will please fans. Oscar Isaac makes a darned good villain as En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse, while also new to the series this outing are Kodi Smit-McPhee as the slightly humorous Kurt/Nightcrawler, the weather-controlling Storm (Alexandra Shipp), and super-tracker Caliban (Tomas Lemarquis). On a side note, fans will delight in seeing Stan Lee actually turn expressive in his traditional cameo.

The set-up is, as my son suggests, confusing, but things come more sharply into focus after Apocalypse recruits some mutants—Magneto among them—and begins causing major disruptions around the world. He then kidnaps Xavier, and that launches annother explosive chain of events (pun intended). There are battles in the external world, and battles inside the mind. Through it all, the production values that have helped to make this series so successful are as slick as ever. It’s a long movie, but it doesn’t feel long.

Though Days of Future Past was an unqualified hit with fans and critics, Apocalypse received mixed reviews, mostly because some were wanting director Bryan Singer to make a different film than he did. This is a special effects movie first, and a superhero movie second. But Singer (X-Men, X2, X-Men: Days of Future Past) does a nice job of enhancing the visual effects that drive the film with near-perfect pacing and shots that often mirror character mindsets—as when he launches into a 360 POV shot to capture the aftermath of chaos. And yes, it looks spectacular on 1080p Blu-ray and sounds fantastic with a 7.1 soundtrack.

Ultimately, as with any franchise that has such rabid fans, individuals will have their own favorites. My son liked X-Men: Apocalypse more than X-Men First Class (2011), but not as much as X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). And that sounds about right to me.

Language: One f-bomb that I can recall and only a handful of other swearwords
Sex: n/a
Violence: Multiple decaptiations are partially obscured by a cloud of dust, but there are numerous scenes of combat, a broken leg, psychological paid, and mass destruction of cities seen from a distance
Adult situations: Pretty much everything, including individuals entombed, Han Solo style, as a result of Apocalypse’s power to command sand (an ingredient in concrete)
Takeaway: Marvel and 20th Century Fox really know their audience and continue to crank out installments that please

 

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (Blu-ray)

September 30, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Comedy, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

centralintelligencecoverGrade: B-
Entire family: No
2016, 107 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13 for crude and suggestive humor, some nudity, action violence, and brief strong language
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: B-
Trailer
Amazon link

Teamed with Ice Cube, Kevin Hart was funnily clueless in Ride Along, and he’s along for the ride again in another buddy cop variation—this time with Dwayne Johnson. Essentially, Central Intelligence is another Knight and Day, with Johnson replacing Tom Cruise as the slightly crazy spy-gone-rogue whose own agency is out to get him, and Hart taking the place of Cameron Diaz as the swept-along civilian. The one new wrinkle is that instead of a chance meeting throwing the two together, the agent (Johnson) seeks out the only person who showed him any kindness in high school.

The drama and poignancy in this lightweight comedy comes from the characters’ reversal of fortunes and high-school flashbacks. Now Calvin Joyner centralintelligencescreen1(Hart) is an ordinary schmuck who’s not getting the promotion he’s worked hard for and who feels like a failure compared to the promise he flashed as a teenager. In high school he had everything. A multiple-sport star athlete who was dating the prettiest girl in school (Danielle Nicolet as Maggie), “The Golden Jet,” as he was called—sorry for the appropriation, NHL legend Bobby Hull—even had a signature backflip move that drove the crowd nuts. Meanwhile, overweight and nerdy Robbie Weirdict was constantly made fun of and ultimately humiliated when a bunch of guys tossed him butt naked onto the center of the basketball court with a packed house laughing at him.

Kids who have been bullied or are sensitive to bullying will find such sad moments made even sadder seeing how the now-buff agent who changed his name to Bob Stone—a name that seems a nod to novelist Robert Stone, author of such politically charged action adventures as Dog Soldiers and A Flag for Sunrise—thinks of Calvin as his best friend. And of course Calvin doesn’t feel the same way. In this respect, the broad comedy and comic violence is balanced with an underlying tone that’s often sad but, typical of Hollywood, blossoms into something more positive by film’s end.

centralintelligencescreen2It really doesn’t matter why a “rogue” agent is being hunted, does it? I mean, it’s always a save-the-world situation to some degree, and in this case its satellite codes that simply can’t fall into the wrong hands—especially if those hands belong to the Black Badger, a dangerous international criminal who clearly dabbles in terrorism. The minor characters really are minor in Central Intelligence, though Amy Ryan (Birdman, Gone Baby Gone) is superb as C.I.A. honcho Pam Harris, the agent leading the effort to capture Bob Stone and recover the codes, and Jason Bateman clearly enjoys his small role as Trevor, the guy who masterminded the worst night of Bob’s life —a point humorously made when Bob revives after reliving that high-school nightmare and feels relieved that he’s being tortured instead.

Hart and Johnson actually pair up nicely, and Central Intelligence is a fun action-comedy largely because of their antics and the chemistry that they manage. Will there be a sequel? Of course—especially when you consider that the pair is already filming Jumanji, in which Johnson plays Dr. Smolder Bravestone, Hart plays Moose Finbar, and Jack Black is Professor Shelly Oberon. That’s the thing about formulaic films: if anything in them clicks, as Hart and Johnson do, the formula actually works, no matter how familiar it all seems.

This Blu-ray release comes with both the theatrical version and a 116-minute unrated version that pushes the film closer to “R” territory.

Language: One “f-word” and multiple other swearwords, including “shit”
Sex: No sex, but a long butt-view of the Rock’s rotund high-school character is shown in the shower and kids make genitalia jokes about Robbie’s last name
Violence: Besides the torture scene (which turns out okay and is partly played for laughs) there are multiple shootings, fistfights, and explosions, with some blood shown
Adult situations: Nothing more than what I’ve already talked about
Takeaway: Since Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines starred in what’s probably the first buddy cop action-comedy (Running Scared, 1986), the genre has really taken off. Now it’s just a matter of pairings, and Johnson and Hart go well together.

ARROW: SEASON 4 (Blu-ray)

September 1, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, TV Drama, TV-14 Leave a comment

Arrow4coverGrade: B+
Entire family: No
2012, 972 min. (23 episodes), Color
Unrated (would be TV-14 for violence)
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features: B
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Arrow is by far the most popular DC Comics series on television. It’s also the darkest, the most complex, and the most violent—which means it’s strictly for families with teenage children.

The creators were clearly fans of Lost, as they incorporate the same kind of flashback structure over an arc that spans a number of seasons, with each season offering new flashbacks and new revelations. The problem with Season Arrow4screen14 is that those flashbacks seem a little more disconnected from the main narrative and often are so brief that they also feel annoyingly interruptive. That’s one thing that sets this season apart from the rest. Another is that a villain called Anarchy wasn’t terribly popular with friends, though I found him to be just as interesting as the others, all of whom take a backseat this season to Damien Darhk. I can’t imagine this season without Darhk, who has all the fascinating charisma and on-screen presence of a James Bond villain. The last things that distinguish Season 4 from the first three is that Arrow becomes Green Arrow and magic and supernatural elements take center stage.

Unlike a few other DC series—Supergirl or Flash come instantly to mind—you can’t just pick up a later season of Arrow and start watching. Too much is predicated on your knowledge of revelations from the previous seasons, and you’ll sit there in confusion without an Arrow fan nearby to tell you plot points you may have missed.

The show’s premise is this: In Season 1 billionaire Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) went out on his father’s boat with his girlfriend’s sister (whom this spoiled rich boy was also “dating”) when a storm hit. She was sucked out to sea, but the men survived (yeah, this is why the series appeals mostly to males). The father makes a huge sacrifice so his son can live and atone for his mistakes, which are all chronicled in a book of former business partners and “like” minds. Queen was marooned on an island for five years, and he wasn’t alone. There were people there who wanted to (and DID) hurt him badly, and others who were tough on him because they wanted him to survive. Other things happened, and flashbacks tease viewers the way Lost did with its disjointed narrative. One thing is certain: he’s no longer the irresponsible bad boy he once was. Like Bruce Wayne/Batman, Queen assumes a dual identity as himself and The Vigilante (as the media first calls him), with plenty of tension on the work and home fronts. That dualism gradually breaks down over the course of several seasons.

Arrow4screen2In Season 4, Green Arrow and his crew fight against Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), who has decided humanity needs a “reset” and is determined to wipe everyone out, starting with Star City. This season Oliver as Oliver runs for mayor and Oliver as Arrow comes up against a villain who pulls playing cards off his skin and flings them like lethal weapons in very cool sequences. Those are the easy plot lines. More complicated twists involve the League of Assassins and a Pit that can bring people back to life, an old enemy of Arrow’s named Ra’s al Ghul (Matthew Nable) who coaches his daughter in her “bloodlust,” Arrow’s bodyguard-turned-helper-turned-Arrow-turned-helper-again John Diggle (David Ramsey) and Diggle’s concern over a brother who might be involved with Darhk, Arrow’s complicated relationship with Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), and a revelation of paternity for Oliver.

If all of that sounds a bit sudsy, Arrow does feel like a stylish, action-filled, dark, and violent soap opera at times—but with better acting and production values, great special effects, and a pleasing superhero-fantasy structure. Season 4 may have a few weak spots, but it’s still superior to most of the dramas on television. If you’re interested, though, do start with Season 1!

Language: Lots of minor swearwords, but no f-bombs
Sex: Nothing here, surprisingly
Violence: Lots, and bloody as well; shooting, stabbing, hand-to-hand
Adult situations: Beloved characters die; characters are tortured; characters smoke, drink, and do drugs
Takeaway: If Neal McDonough isn’t cast as a future Bond villain, I’d be flabbergasted

THE MARTIAL ARTS KID (Blu-ray)

August 14, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Family, PG rated 1 Comment

MartialArtsKidcoverGrade: C+
Entire family: No, but darned close
2015, 103 min., Color
Traditionz Entertainment
Not rated (would be PG for martial arts fighting)
Aspect ratio: 16×9 widescreen
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Bonus features: C+
Trailer
Amazon link

As its title suggests, The Martial Arts Kid (2015) is a remake of The Karate Kid, though this five Dove-rated film was made with a much lower budget than the $8 million the original 1984 film had to work with. Ironically, the remake was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and the lower budget mostly shows up in the lack of experienced actors as extras and in rougher-looking tracking shots.

But Jansen Panettiere, Hayden’s younger brother, is just as likable as Ralph Macchio was as the title character—only in this version he has the added burden of playing a troubled youth whom we see carted away in a police car in the opening sequence. When his grandmother announces she can’t take it anymore, the setting changes from Cleveland, Ohio to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he will live with his Aunt Cindy (Cynthia Rothrock), her Asian husband Glen (Don “The Dragon” Wilson), and their 12-year-old daughter, Katie (Kayley Stallings, who does a lot with a small role).

MartialArtsKidscreen1The thing is, young Robbie (Panettiere) seems pretty wholesome and clean-cut from the beginning, and his last words to an appalled grandma—“It’s not as bad as it looks”—aren’t enough to explain why this nice guy goes from someone who’s in with a rough crowd one minute and someone who sits at the nerd table in school and is bullied in Florida the next. Except that that was loosely the plot of The Karate Kid, and apart from this twist and the resolution, The Martial Arts Kid stays pretty close to the original script.

Like The Karate Kid, Robbie finds his life complicated when he falls for a girl whose boyfriend is a student at a take-no-prisoners dojo and bullies him—though the bullying episodes are much harder to believe in The Martial Arts Kid. For one thing, Bo (Matthew Ziff) gets away with murder, figuratively speaking, with authority figures not really doing anything because “his father is powerful.” Really? That might have been believable in the ‘70s, but in this age of WikiLeaks even the most powerful are held accountable. Same with the “break their legs” philosophy taught by Dojo Extreme master Kaine (T.J. Storm).

MartialArtsKidscreen2The year before this film was released, Cocoa Beach had a lower-than-average crime rate, and on film it looks like an upscale little Space Coast Town—not the kind of place where an angry dude would threaten to demolish a dealer who won’t give him a refund, or thugs would attack others in broad daylight with a knife. When things like that happen here, you’re well aware that they’re plot contrivances. That said, it’s praiseworthy that Robbie’s salvation comes not only from mentor Glen, who agrees to take him on as a student at his school, but also from Aunt Cindy . . . and that she was a martial arts expert before she decided to develop her skills further with her husband.

The Martial Arts Kid couldn’t be clearer about its main message—bullies suck— though a sub-message gets kind of blurry in an ending that offers not a structured match between the “kid” and his tormenter, but a resolution that’s a little more free form, shall we say. This remake may be a little corny in its wholesomeness, but that’s a trait of family films. The message is a good one, women aren’t portrayed as damsels in distress, and Panettiere and Kathryn Newton (TV’s Gary Unmarried) have enough chemistry to where you want them to be happy. For all its low-budget flaws, The Martial Arts Kid still makes for an entertaining family movie night. Dove approved this for ages 12 and older, but I see no reason why under-12s also couldn’t watch. You don’t have to be 12 to be bullied or take martial arts lessons, right?

Language: Nothing offensive here
Sex: None; just an innocent kiss and sparring takedown
Violence: Knives and guns are pulled at one point, but it’s all martial arts otherwise
Adult situations: Plenty of pseudo low-lifes
Takeaway: My teenage son said this movie was better than he expected, and I’d have to agree, especially considering the budget

IN THE DEEP (DVD)

August 12, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Drama, PG rated 1 Comment

IntheDeepcoverGrade: C
Entire family: No
2016, 89 min., Color
Dimension Films / Anchor Bay Entertainment
Not Rated (would be PG for drinking and frightening situations)
Aspect ratio: anamorphic widescreen
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Bonus features: n/a
Trailer
Amazon link

Two woman vs. shark movies were released this past year, and neither of them comes close to the sheer terror of that first toothy blockbuster, Jaws. Of the two, The Shallows is slightly superior, but they both fail to achieve the same simmering first act as Spielberg’s original, and the pay-off is equally slight by comparison.

In the Deep’s big claim to fame is that the majority of the film was shot underwater—the first full-length feature to accomplish that feat. The underwater filming does give this direct-to-video film a sense of authenticity that’s a welcome antidote to a cliché-filled opening that couldn’t be any slower moving if the cameraman had only focused on the sea lapping against the sand. Two sisters are on vacation in Mexico, one is less adventurous, they talk, they kill time, we all kill time until those sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore, Red Band Society) and Kate (Claire Holt, The Originals), find themselves trapped at the bottom of the sea when a cable breaks and their shark-cage adventure goes awry.

IntheDeepscreen1Originally titled 47 Meters Down, it’s 127 Hours without the backstory and Cast Away underwater without the volleyball—which is to say that with the focus solely on two trapped characters and the narrative arena minimalized, the burden falls on the writers and the actors’ abilities to carry the film. They try, but director Johannes Roberts seems to specialize in modern-day B movies and made-for-TV films, and this one feels like something you’d see on television (it seems to have aired on Starz). The opening is so slow and mindless that can’t wait for them to get in the water. Once that happens you get POV filming that makes you feel as if you’re right there in the cage with them—so much so that it might make some viewers claustrophobic. The filmmakers also manage a credible tension.

IntheDeepscreen2But one big problem with the all-underwater filming is that once the cage hits bottom, the visibility isn’t the greatest. Pictured left is the cage in open water, but down below it’s dark, it’s murky, and there are too many scenes where all you can see are shapes and different brightly colored lights. If you watch this with kids they may complain, “I can’t see, was that the shark?” Oh, there are frightening moments when you DO see the shark and plainly enough, but too much of this underwater drama is obscured—though it helps if you watch it at night and turn off all the lights.

Matthew Modine also appears aboard ship, but unlike the minor characters in Jaws, he and the rest of the supporting cast seem to exist as necessary plot devices and nothing more. There are implied relationships and also a slight sexual tension that borders on the lecherous, but none of it is developed or seems to matter. As I said, In the Deep is all about what happens underwater.

The two sisters have less than an hour of oxygen in their tanks to figure a way to get to the surface, past the Great White Sharks that are on the prowl. Some viewers will be fine with the murky darkness. After all, horror films are predicated on a simple premise: keep people from seeing the whole monster until the “money shot.” Lovers of the genre will hang on, hoping for a big payoff. Others will feel caged themselves and want out.

If you want to watch this one, I recommend that you rent or buy the Blu-ray rather than the DVD. You’ll need and appreciate all the visual sharpness you can get.

Language: A few very mild curse words and that’s it
Sex: Just implied lechery and flirtations
Violence: Nothing here that older children can’t see
Adult situations: Drinking, flirtation, and underwater peril
Takeaway: Hardcore lovers of shark films may like this, but I’m guessing more casual viewers will be turned off by the slow opening and the underwater murkiness

SUPERGIRL: SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

August 7, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Entire Family, TV Drama, TV-PG Leave a comment

Supergirl1coverGrade: B/B+
Entire family: Yes (except for preschoolers?)
2015, 877 min. (20 episodes), Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-TV for violence
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C-
Trailer
Amazon link

There are two DC Universes, and Melissa Benoist really brightens up the television one. She has the kind of charisma that propelled Lynda Carter to stardom as TV’s Wonder Woman during the seventies and the kind of girl-next-door likeability and warmth that inspired the writers of Supergirl to refer to her “humanity” after otherwise drawing a distinction between humans and aliens.

Then again, alienity just doesn’t cover it when we’re talking about Benoist as Kara Danvers, aka Supergirl. In this winning 2015 CW series she’s the “girl” you want to be friends with, to confide in, to rely on, to have fun with, and, if you’re a guy, to date. Though Supergirl comes from the planet Krypton, with Benoist wearing the costume she embodies everything that’s good in humanity.

Supergirl1screen1Supergirl offers a less dark DC Universe in which characters have down time, bond, laugh, share food and drink, and grapple with problems that audience members face—like questions about identity, body image, relationships, glass ceilings, and juggling career and personal life. The series’ feminism and “stronger together” theme is even reflected in the Hillary Clinton campaign, and who knows? Maybe this is the year that a female who is dedicated to the prospect of helping people is finally able to be accepted as a hero. That’s certainly Kara’s main focus in Season 1.

Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to look after her younger cousin, but because her pod strayed off-course she arrived after Kal-El, who’s grown up and already accepted as a hero in Metropolis. Instead of her taking care of him, he’s the caretaker who whisks her her off to foster parents. The series begins when Kara, who had been experimenting with her powers off-camera all this time, is now 24 and working in National City as an assistant to media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart).

Kara’s boss reminds her that things come easier for men, and that women have to work twice as hard in order to be accepted. That’s no truer than for Kara, who is still feeling the burden of role reversal. She was supposed to take care of her cousin, and instead, once a disaster forced her to reveal herself as a superhero before she felt ready, the unseen Superman continues to be her protector. In fact, Superman even asked his good friend Jimmy Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) to move to National City and work at the same media corporation so he could keep an eye on Kara. Who else knows her secret identity? Aside from her foster mom and an older sister (Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers) who works for the DEO (Dept. of Extra-Normal Operations), just tech expert and good friend Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan). Well, and Alex’s boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), who eventually allows the sisters to work together. And her Kryptonian mother’s deceased sister Astra, who escaped destruction because she was on a prison transport full of hundreds of aliens that also crashed on Earth—which she now wants to conquer.

Supergirl1screen2The Supergirl writers do a nice job of withholding information and adding characters along the way in order to keep the series fresh, and a reviewer with no spoiler scruples could go on and on about plot twists and the numerous thematic threads. Relationships are also a focus, as unrequited love seems as abundant as the number of Kryptonian criminals who either surface or break out of prison. Winn likes Kara who likes Jimmy who likes Lucy Lane (Lois’s sister, played by Jenna Dewan Tatum). In the DC movie universe the focus seems to be on creating a puzzle that readers can piece together, Marvel-style. But Supergirl is all about the female hero and the many challenges she faces—both physical and emotional.

If all this estrogen starts to make Supergirl sound like another Gilmore Girls for women only, rest assured: The action and special effects are decent and there are plenty of DC villains to interest a broader audience. This season you’ll encounter the insectile Hellgrammite, the bio-electric Reactron, the newly electrified Livewire, the wonderfully rendered Red Tornado, the Toyman, a plant known as Black Mercy, the Martian Manhunter, the Master Jailer, Myriad, and a not-so-nice human industrialist in the Tony Stark vein named Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli). Sometimes the villains are rendered in a way that it reminds you vaguely of Power Rangers, but for the most part they’re villainous enough. Just.

Bottom line: Supergirl hooks you quickly and Benoist holds your attention until the writers can toss in a new wrinkle every now and then to keep things interesting. She’s even a strong enough hero to where you don’t mind if she battles a villain that seems a bit hokey. But you can’t help but wonder, as Cat Grant’s mother does, “Why Supergirl? Why not Superwoman?”

Language: n/a
Sex: n/a
Violence: Battles between good people and bad, superheroes and villains, elite fighters and worthy opponents; not much in the way of violence to everyday people
Adult situations: There is drinking, but no intoxication
Takeaway: This series has a lot going for it, but the big plus is Melissa Benoist, who was also one of the few charismatic replacement characters Glee brought in when the main cast changed

KEANU (Blu-ray)

August 4, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Comedy, R rated Leave a comment

KeanucoverGrade: B
Entire family: No way
2016, 100 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated R for violence, language throughout, drug use and sexuality/nudity
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C-
Trailer
Amazon link

It’s rare when Family Home Theater reviews R-rated movies, but the line between PG-13 and R movies has been blurring as of late. And nothing blurs the line more than a cute little kitty.

Keanu (2016) is a cat-lover’s movie, an action comedy that will appeal to anyone who has dressed a pet in an elaborate costume and taken pictures. In terms of its comedic structure and spirit, Keanu is a lot like the PG-13-rated Date Night, in which Steve Carell and Tina Fey were a boring couple whose night started to fall like a string of dominoes after they assumed the identity of another couple in order to get a table at a swanky restaurant, and it got them involved with all sorts of unsavory characters. Only here, the premise is that a kitty like Keanu is so darned cute that people—ruthless people—will do anything to keep him or get him back. In other words, Keanu is more like Date Night meets the Coen Brothers. It’s for families with high school students who like buddy cop flicks and crime capers.

The violence is mostly comic, the drug use isn’t much different from what you typically see in a PG-13 movie like Date Night, and there’s one very brief background moment of female frontal nudity—which also has been getting by the PG-13 censors. The one big difference is in the language. F-bombs and “mother” F variations are almost as common as the liberal use of the “n” word. But savvy parents know that high school students already hear it all on a daily basis.

keanuscreen1Keanu is the brainchild of MADtv alums Key & Peele, whose Comedy Central sketches have been a favorite of teens and twenty-somethings. The comic duo plays a pair of cousins who are about as streetwise as the nerdiest black characters TV sitcoms have given us over the years.

Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) is so straight-laced that he’s more at home in the suburbs than the streets and hasn’t learned how to let his hair down. When his wife and daughter go out of town on a trip with another family, he checks up on his cousin, Rell (Jordan Peele), whose girlfriend just dumped him. But fate intervenes. A cute kitty that Rell names Keanu turns up on his doorstep, and in no time at all the little guy becomes the focus of his life. Rell turns the house into a cat “pad” and spends all his time shooting a Keanu calendar in which the cat is shown in different movie scenes. Cute? You bet. And all that cuteness is a terrific counterweight to the tongue-in-cheek unsavory elements.

Keanuscreen2When Rell’s apartment is trashed and Keanu turns up missing, Rell’s marijuana-dealing neighbor (Will Forte) tells him that a local gang called the 17th St. Blips might have been responsible. Once Rell convinces his cousin to impersonate street toughs “Tectonic” and “Shark Tank” and enter that world of gangs, gangsters, drug dealers, and killers, the comic dominoes start to fall.

Key & Peele are, in fact, hilarious as two would-be bad asses, and I wouldn’t be the first critic to comment on how especially funny it was to see a cross-cut scene of Clarence sitting in a getaway car outside a mansion teaching a carload of gangstas to love and sing along with George Michael while Rell was inside with a tough gangsta gal named Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish) playing a life-or-death game of Truth or Dare with Anna Faris and her houseguests.

Keanu won’t be for everyone, and it’s definitely only for families with children in high school who can handle the sometimes bloody comic violence and non-stop language. But it’s a funny buddy crime comedy with a kitty that constantly threatens to upstage everyone—no matter how bad-ass they are.

Language: F-words, mother-f variations, and liberal use of the “n” word and street language throughout
Sex: One strip-club scene shows background frontal nudity for a very brief moment
Violence: Mostly comic, including the bloody stuff; people are shot at point blank range and there are threats of cutting off fingers
Adult situations: Drug use and mention throughout, with drug dealers at the center of the plot
Takeaway: The only thing funnier than watching white people try to act like streetwise blacks is watching two nerdy blacks attempt it

BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (Blu-ray combo)

July 24, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated, Sci-Fi/Fantasy 1 Comment

BatmanvSupermancoverGrade: C+/B-
Entire family: No
2016, 151 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: Dolby Atmos
Bonus features: C-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

My teenage son said it best: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is a good action movie, but not a very good superheroes film. That is, there’s plenty of action, great CGI visual effects, and breakrib (if not breakneck) pacing. But it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad . . . and doesn’t that Good v. Evil dichotomy drive every superhero film? A little more character development and motivation wouldn’t hurt either, though both of those require a little squinting to see in this 2016 film from Warner Bros.

You almost get the feeling that you’re being had—and not just because of the neurotic, helium-voiced way that Jesse Eisenberg chose to play Lex Luthor Jr., or that you’re stuck with a Jr. in the first place. It’s that the filmmakers thought they could throw everyone into the deep end of the pool and call it a party. They expect that you’ve seen (and remembered) Man of Steel, because if you haven’t, then the opening will make even less sense. Even if just watched Man of Steel there are questions, and I’m not just talking about why WB can’t use the standard abbreviation for “versus.”

BatmanvSupermanscreen1Batman was always a vigilante, but why has he apparently gone rogue against all of society? Why is Superman suddenly so sensitive to public opinion that he’s gotten a megalomaniac complex? Who is shooting at whom, and why, when we see Lois Lane trying to interview a terrorist in the opening Africa sequence? Most importantly, why, pray tell, does Superman threaten Batman, setting up the “v.” conflict? Aren’t both of them on the outs with society? Those are just a few of the nagging questions that surface early.

All of which is to say, Batman v. Superman has one problem, and it isn’t Lex Luthor. It’s that the narrative feels disjointed . . . and how is that even possible, when director Zack Snyder had 151 minutes to work with in this theatrical cut?

Some of the questions are explained and the narrative smoothed out by an extended cut that’s included in this “Ultimate Edition,” but it shouldn’t take 181 minutes to tease out the narration, should it? Especially when the screenplay comes from two guys that in past outings have given audiences terrific, economical scripts: Chris Terrio (Argo) and David S. Goyer (Batman Begins). Snyder, for that matter, directed such previously taut films as 300 and Watchmen. So what happened here?

I can’t even begin to tell you, except that you watch the action thinking that it’s all very cool and that there’s a lot at stake, yet it’s hard to get too involved when there are so many lingering questions. With a superhero film you want to get a handle on how all those interlocking pieces fit together, whether the comic universe is Marvel or DC, and it’s tougher here to do than with any of the Avengers films.

BatmanvSupermanscreen2Here’s what I think happens: The plot picks up a year and a half after the final battle from Man of Steel. Both Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) feel the other is a threat, despite the fact that Lex Luthor Jr. (Jesse Eisenberg) is mixed up with weapons dealers and trying to get his hands on Kryptonite. Superman is called before a congressional hearing to explain himself, Batman dreams of battling Superman and prepares to act out that dream by stealing the Kryptonite from Luthor, who has kidnapped Superman’s stepmom, Martha Kent (Diane Lane). And Lois Lane (Amy Adams) doesn’t really have much to do after that opening scene except to try to convince Batman that Superman isn’t a bad guy. Oh, and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) makes an appearance.

There’s more, of course, but don’t look to bonus features for a fuller explanation. They all seem promotional in nature, and you get the feeling that Warner Bros. was less concerned with making sense out of this film than they were trying to set up future films in the DC Universe.

Action movies and young audiences have a lot in common: they live in the moment and don’t question things. That’s not a bad mindset to adopt when you pop in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It may not be a great superhero movie, but with an alien monster and large-scale battle scenes it really is a darned good action flick that bears re-watching . . . and with every viewing you begin to pick up a little more. Good thing, because the extended cut that somewhat smoothes out the narrative is rated R for even more intense sequences of violence. As is, the PG-13 version is adult enough to push this film out of reach of viewers younger than 12 or so.

Language: No F-bombs, but there’s a handful of lesser swearwords
Sex: One bathtub scene with a man and woman, but as with a naked dead man nothing revealing is shown
Violence: Plenty, though bloodless, including gunshots to the head, self-inflicted cuts to the hand, ad the usual explosions and action movie battles
Adult situations: Aside from alcohol use there’s a scene in which a child’s parents are murdered in front of him and a later scene where Doomsday originates that might be a little too powerful for young viewers
Takeaway: I look forward to future conflicts, but so far the clear winner in the Marvel Universe v. DC Universe is Marvel.

KUNG FU PANDA 3 (Blu-ray combo)

June 30, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Entire Family, PG rated Leave a comment

KungFuPanda3coverGrade: B-/C+
Entire family: Yes
2016, 95 min., Color
DreamWorks/20th Century Fox
Rated PG for martial arts action and some rude humor
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: C+/B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

The Blu-ray box proclaims that Kung Fu Panda 3 is “Certified Fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.8/10 and 126 critics giving it a “fresh” rating, while 20 pronounced it “rotten.”

Fresh, rotten. With this film it’s splitting hairs.

Tomatometer critics gave Kung Fu Panda 2 an average rating of 6.9, and the original Kung Fu Panda earned an average rating of 7.2. I thought both were better than that, but while I enjoyed and found myself instantly invested in them, that wasn’t the case with the third. In the early going I was squirming like a three year old, wondering when #3 was finally going to find it’s footing and engage the audience. That’s a shame, considering all the high-powered voice talents in this animated sequel— among them, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Kate Hudson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Wayne Knight.

The opening sequence is all action and no context, and the first 29 minutes are a narrative mish-mash. Only after Kung Fu Panda master Po (voiced by Jack Black) gets a surprise visit from his biological father (Bryan Cranston) does the film finally find its trajectory so you can finally KungFuPanda3screen1start to care. Apparently discovering in previous films that he’s the Dragon Warrior isn’t enough. In this animated adventure Po still has an identity crisis when Master Shifu (Hoffman) tells him there’s more to identity that Kung Fu. He has to learn who is IS. So when his real dad shows up and tells him he will teach him the secrets if he’ll return with him to the hidden village of the pandas (which Po thought were all dead), Master Shifu agrees, and Po’s adoptive duck father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), reluctantly consents.

The new bull villain is almost Marvelesque, but the villains in the first two movies made more sense. In Kung Fu Panda (2008), a former pupil of turtle Master Oogway who chose the dark side had escaped from prison and the powerful leopard was intent on taking his revenge out on the entire Valley of Peace. In Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), a prequel, an evil peacock named Lord Shen tried to exterminate the panda population in order to negate a prophecy that a panda warrior would be his undoing. Later Po and the Furious Five Kung Fu Masters set out to stop Lord Shen from unleashing a powerful weapon that would make him the new ruler of China.

KungFuPanda3screen2Both of those scenarios were more instantly understandable than what we’re given in the third installment. Kai is an old friend of Master Oogway, and together they apparently healed the secret village of pandas after it was attacked by Lord Shen. The pandas, in return, taught the two how to use Qi. Oogway apparently defeated Kai and banished him to the spirit realm, where, confusingly, a deceased Oogway also floats around among unanchored mountains and Monument Valley formations. Meanwhile, Kai escapes from the spirit world and, using Qi, defeats the Kung Fu masters one by one and obtains their essences, their Qi, which he hangs from his belt like shrunken heads that he then can unleash like super zombies of sorts to do his bidding.

Then we get a little Magnificent Seven as Po and his father and his stowaway adoptive father reach the secret valley and learn that Kai is headed there. In really short order—not much longer than the span of a montage—Po starts to teach the panda peasants how to be Kung Fu masters, and the great defense battle is on. How much you like Kung Fu Panda 3 will depend on how much you’re willing to overlook those first 29 minutes and just watch the film and not think too much about questions and explanations.

Typically it’s adults who want more logic and character development rather than simply colorful action, cutesy characters, and physical humor. As a result, though the first two Kung Fu Panda movies were bona fide family movie night options for the everyone, this one may appeal mostly to the kids, unless you just sit back and enjoy the animation and Blu-ray quality, which is superb. The Rotten Tomatoes critics gave Kung Fu Panda 3 a 6.8, which is just below B range. It’s a B-/C+ on the Family Home Theater scale, and whether you flip that or not, it’s still the weakest entry in the trilogy.

Language: n/a
Sex: Nothing except for an androgynous panda who may be a transvestite
Violence: Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Adult situations: n/a
Takeaway: Funny how we have idioms to cover everything: third time’s the charm or three strikes and you’re out; after this third film, I’m just not seeing where this franchise could possibly go

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (Blu-ray)

June 10, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated, Romance Leave a comment

PrideandPrejudiceandZombiescoverGrade: B-/C+
Entire family: No
2016, 107 min., Color
Sony Pictures
Rated PG-13 for zombie violence, action and brief suggestive content
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: B+
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

While watching Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, our college freshman groused that you can’t introduce the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and then not do much with it. “D for dumb” was the grade he said he’d give the film. Our teenage daughter, who’s more the target audience, said she thought it was a B but admitted it wasn’t as good as she had hoped. My wife, a big Jane Austen fan, agreed. She liked that, minus the zombie sequences, the historical drama stayed fairly close to the book, but she didn’t think this particular Darcy (Sam Riley) charismatic enough to sell the romantic angle. As for me, I found myself less impressed by this variation on a theme than I was by the Bollywood version, Bride & Prejudice.

If Pride and Prejudice and Zombies disappoints—and my family wasn’t alone, given that only 42 percent of Rotten Tomatometer critics liked the film—let me suggest one main reason why. It’s a romance and it’s an action-horror film, and sometimes one genre gets in the way of the other. The concept works against itself.

PrideandPrejudiceandZombiesscreen1Though the zombie premise is woven into the plot, the actual insertion of zombie scenes can sometimes feel inorganic or heavy-handed. Hearing myself say that I have to chuckle: of course when you insert battles with zombies they’re going to be jarringly head-snapping (sometimes quite literally). But it does take away from any romantic simmer, and the dramatic, romantic interludes are just enough to make people squirm and wish for more zombie action. I think my daughter nailed it when she said the characters and the historical treatment were good, but the writers could have done more with the plot and included more action. As much as she loves romance, she’s a fan of shows like Supernatural, and the action-violence in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is both tame and minimal by comparison. Disappointing, in other words.

The novel by Seth Grahame-Smith was a parody, but the comic elements seem diminished in this film adaptation from director Burr Steers. In it, Darcy is like a 19th-century version of Homeland Security. In the opening scene, he visits a rich family to expose a rumored, recently infected zombie that, if unchecked, might start another mass outbreak. Meanwhile, Mr. Bennet (the incomparable Charles Dance) sends his daughters to China to learn martial arts and better defend themselves against those pesky zombies, who seem to have no social graces—turning horseback rides and elegant balls into tests of survival.

PrideandPrejudiceandZombiesscreen2You’ll probably need to watch this film several times to grasp an appreciation of the IZS (Integrated Zombie Structure), which includes a trip to the In-Between zone outside of walled London in which zombies feed on pig brains and are somehow kept from going completely savage. Ala Austen there are proposals and good and bad manners. The handsome Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) is here, of course, as is Parson Collins (Matt Smith), himself a suitor who indeed “settles” after being turned down by his first choice. And a soldier named Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston) turns up with a story about Mr. Darcy that he’s reluctant (but dying) to tell. And in this version, Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine, is a famous zombie killer who wears an eye patch and seems resistant to any idea of a brokered peace with zombies that haven’t gone savage. Got that?

As the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, Lily James (Cinderella) charms not only all the suitors but teenage girls who will recognize in her that rare combination of natural behavior and poise. Without her, this film would languish a lot more in the IZS.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies took in a worldwide gross of just $16 million against a reported $28 million production budget, despite plenty of advertising and social media buzz. It could be that Austen fans expect romance to be at the core of this classic, no matter what the permutation, and zombies ate away a little too much of that chest-heaving unrequited love.

Language: n/a
Sex: Apart from heaving bosoms (a Victorian trope), there’s one instance where a man and woman tear at each other’s clothes
Violence: A woman’s head is shot off, heads explode, a man’s hand is slashed off, people are stabbed, and there’s plenty of other zombie violence
Adult situations: Lots of pus and decomposing flesh and lots of wine-drinking, once to intoxication
Takeaway: Could have been funnier, could have been more romantic, and could have had more zombie action to satisfy those with a craving . . . .

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