PG-13 rated | Family Home Theater

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (Blu-ray combo)

September 8, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Drama, PG-13 rated, Thriller Leave a comment

Grade: B-
Entire family: No
2016, 129 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for violence and some language
Summit Entertainment
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 widescreen
Featured audio: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD compatible)
Bonus features: B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Now You See Me 2 is a solid sequel that’s as glitzy and stylish as the first—even though it may be a little harder to figure out. This heist thriller brings back Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and David Franco (James’ brother) as three of the Four Horsemen—magicians who pulled off grand illusions as diversions so they could steal from the conniving rich and give their money away to common people.

That Robin Hood theme isn’t a part of the second film, which opens with Jack Wilder (Franco) thought dead and Atlas (Eisenberg) and McKinney (Harrelson) waiting for instructions from The Eye. In short order they are given a fourth illusionist named Lula May (Lizzy Caplan) and their contact/handler, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) tells them they are to expose a software magnate who is stealing user data.

It really helps to have seen the original, as what emerges is a revenge motif that’s dependent on your knowledge of the past. Even so, it’s possible to enjoy Now You See Me 2 as a stand-alone film because it’s essentially a come-uppance plot that involves grand illusions that are mostly unexplained. So what’s a little extra confusion?

The FBI, led by new chief Natalie Austin (Sanaa Lathan) is out to get the Four Horsemen, not knowing that Agent Rhodes is playing both sides. They’re not the only ones with an axe to grind. Rhodes’ nemesis (Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bentley) wants to bring them down because he was framed by them in the first film because Rhodes thought him responsible for the death of his father, a Houdini-like magician. Their original handler (Michael Caine) is also disgruntled with them and wants to bring them down, with the assistance of his son (Daniel Radcliffe).

Everything starts to hit the fan when the Horsemen expose that software magnate but are themselves exposed at that same event, which forces them to go on the run. They escape through a previously placed chute but instead of going according to plan they mysteriously find themselves in Macau, where they become involved with all sorts of danger and intrigue and Jay Chou, a popular Taiwanese musician/actor who plays a magic shop employee.

The plot of Now You See Me 2 is a little more convoluted than the original, meaning it’s going to be for ages 13 and up—not so much because of anything that is censorable, but because it’s intellectually demanding. Much depends on the audience’s ability to figure out some things on the fly, as well as their willingness to just have fun and appreciate the rest without needing to have every last thing explained. Aside from some confusion, Now You See Me 2 offers everything you’d want from a film like this: great production values, great performances, and illusions that are rendered with equally great special effects.

Language: One f-bomb and multiple lesser swearwords
Sex: Nothing here
Violence: Hand-to-hand combat, bloody loss of body part (that turns out to be fake)
Adult situations: A boy watches while his father drowns inside a safe
Takeaway: Though it’s a half-grade less than the original, this film about magic can get away with a lot

EQUALS (Blu-ray)

August 28, 2016

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

Grade: C
Entire family: No
2016, 101 min., Color
Lionsgate
Rated PG-13 for thematic content, sensuality, partial nudity and disturbing images
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C+
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult in a dystopian romantic drama? Sounds like a surefire hit with teens, doesn’t it? Especially when it’s all about emotions, as Equals is.

Sometime in the far future—far enough to where everyone wears white uniforms and the buildings and residential cubicles are all as sanitized as can be—human emotions and illnesses have been all but eliminated. People go about their sanitized jobs like futuristic zombies or contented cows, until a new disease pops up: SOS (Switched on Syndrome), the stages of which ultimately lead to the afflicted being “put down” in a humane and painless way, though an ubiquitous videoboard and voiceover reassures them that “a cure is coming soon.”

When Silas (Hoult) is affected, he goes through treatments. He also suspects that co-worker Nia (Stewart) is suffering from SOS but hiding her symptoms. The main symptom, of course, is that they can feel emotions and therefore notice each other, then feel for each other. A romance grows . . . though unfortunately, not fast enough for most teens.

Therein lies the chief problem. How do you convey a sterile and emotionless environment and a futuristic existence bereft of real meaning without subjecting viewers to stark repetitive images and what feels like real-time boredom? Thirty minutes into Equals our dystopian-novel-loving teen was ready to pull the plug, and I can’t say as I blame her. It’s slow going. What’s worse, though, is that if you’ve seen The Giver, or even Gattaca, you’re already have a slight sense of deja vu. The concept isn’t new or original, and that places a burden on director Drake Doremus and his cast to make their version of dystopian disappointment memorable or distinctive it in some way. And I’m not sure that happens.

Doremus seems to wrestle with the sense of inevitability that’s embedded in the film’s plot, determined to shine the spotlight on these ill-fated lovers when what’s more interesting, frankly, are the other patients who have formed both a support group and underground movement to deal with not just SOS but their newfound “knowledge” of emotions that feels a little like the problem Adam and Eve faced after tasting of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

Is Equals stylish? Yes. Is it cold and sterile? Yes. Is it satisfying to watch? Honestly, no . . . though things really pick up in the third act when SOS patients played by Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver both literally and figuratively try to come to the rescue. By then, though, many viewers—young ones especially—might feel a little too zombified themselves to care.

Language: None
Sex: No nudity, but clothing removed and implied coupling
Violence: Nothing much—a body appears to have been the result of a “jumper,” and other references to suicide are made
Adult situations: Other than a frighteningly sterile vision of the future? Nothing much
Takeaway: There had to be a way to tell this story without focusing so much on the mind-numbing sterility of this future world and more on the capacity of the human spirit to rise above such things

HONEY 3: DARE TO DANCE (Blu-ray combo)

August 27, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Drama, Musical, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

Grade: C
Entire family: No
2016, 97 min., Color
Universal
Rated PG-13 for some sensuality
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C+
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

It’s almost a given that dance movies exist to feature dance moves, with usually just enough plotting to get you from performance to performance. And if those performances are exceptional, the target audience—dance lovers, would-be dancers, and teens still looking to find their passion or their identity—will be happy to overlook the bad acting and scenic construction that strings those dance numbers together.

The problem with Honey 3: Dare to Dance is that the dancing isn’t exceptional. It’s uneven, with decent hip-hop routines mixed in with some very mundane ones that inexplicably have the other dancers on the set “oooing and “ahhhing,” even though the moves and level of excitement aren’t as good as what viewers saw on Glee. For me, the saving grace was that the film was both shot and set in Cape Town, South Africa, and the backgrounds and locations were fascinating. There’s some gorgeous time-lapse photography as well, which looks terrific in HD. Then again, this is a dance movie, not a documentary.

Our 14-year-old daughter is part of the target audience. She’s a serious dancer who also watches every PG and PG-13 dance movie that comes out. But she was bored mid-way through Honey 3—a film she said she’d grade a C. After it was over she needed to watch a good dance movie to set her world right again.

I would give it a similar grade, though I’m not a dancer. Neither, unfortunately, is the female lead. Cassie Ventura is a hip-hop singer who has the look of a leading lady but not the dance chops to be the focus of a film like this. Both supporting actresses are better dancers and have more stage presence. Dena Kaplan (whom viewers may recognize as Abigail from the popular Australian television series Dance Academy) is a joy to watch, and she was actually born in South Africa. Why not cast her as the lead? Or Sibongile Mlambo, who was a contestant on America’s Got Talent and appeared as a dancer in the 2013 family dramedy Felix? It seems like a waste to relegate Kaplan to the role of “best friend,” while Mlambo, who has more raw stage presence, is cast as Ishani, the street-tough hard case Melea has to win over. Another problem is that Ventura doesn’t have any chemistry with the lead male dancer (Kenny Wormald, Footloose). We don’t buy them as Romeo and Juliet, and we don’t buy them as a couple off-stage.

The first Honey (2003) starred Jessica Alba and was set in New York but shot in Toronto. The plot? Find a place to put on a show to raise money to build a community center. In the tradition of unimaginative dance movies, that’s what happens here too—although there’s also some nonsense about Melea being kicked out of college for not paying tuition and we think the show is going to be all about her getting back into school again. Instead, that “plot” line just withers away, forgotten by all, while her focus shifts to honoring her dead mother by seeing her thesis project through and producing a modern version of Mom’s favorite play, Romeo and Juliet. And that focus expands to trying to establish a dance center in honor of Ishani’s slain brother.

When they finally get around to producing this hip-hop R&J, we’re not supposed to think too hard about how Melea was able to “borrow” costumes from the college she was kicked out of, or why there isn’t more violence when South Africa is rampant with violent crime. Or how, for that matter, Melea is able to rent an old theater with no money. But of course this is a dance movie, which means none of those questions are supposed to be asked. Viewers are expected to get caught up in the music (which sounds great on a DTS-HDMA 5.1 soundtrack, by the way), watch the moves on this direct-to-video movie . . . and “ooo” and “ahhh” like the extras on set.

Language: Surprising, very clean
Sex: Nothing here to offend either
Violence: Some pushing and posturing and that’s it
Adult situations: We’re told that Ishanti’s brother was killed over a necklace
Takeaway: In a way it’s too bad bad director Bille Woodruff spent his budget on a trip to South Africa; he could have used more money to pay for a little better choreography and dancers

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

August 23, 2016

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

Grade: B-
Entire family: No
2016, 681 min. (16 episodes), Color
Warner Bros.
Not rated (would be PG-13 for sci-fi/fantasy violence and some sensuality)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C+
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Marvel may be masters of the film universe, but DC is holding its own in the battle for small screen supremacy. The latest case-in-point is DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the first season of which comes out on Blu-ray and DVD today. While it may not have the charismatic cast of Supergirl, the edgy darkness of Arrow, or the conceptual “coolness” of The Flash, it’s still entertaining—especially if you haven’t had your fill of classic time-travel shows like Quantum Leap.

In the DC Universe, instead of (or perhaps in addition to) a deity there’s an organization known as the Time Masters, whose job it is to manipulate time in order to protect the future. Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) was once one of them, though he goes off on his own time-altering mission after his wife and son are murdered in 2166 by an immortal dictator named Vandal Savage (Casper Crump). Knowing his own limitations Hunter tricks or persuades a mismatched group of special talents to join him:

Nuclear physicist Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and his student, Jefferson Jackson (Franz Drameh), who collectively form the character Firestorm, which was introduced on The Flash
Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) as Atom, a character introduced on Arrow
Kendra Saunders (Clara Renée) and Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel) as Hawkgirl and Hawkman, incarnations of ancient Egyptians who sprout wings as outward manifestations of their inner warriors and who have been reincarnated multiple times, also introduced on The Flash
Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), a character with rage issues who’s talked into wearing the White Canary suit (based on a Black Canary character seen on Arrow)
Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) as the former Captain Cold introduced on The Flash, a petty criminal
Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) as the arsonist Heat Wave, Captain Cold’s criminal partner

All of the characters have their moments, but the two that consistently appealed to our family were the petty criminals—perhaps because Purcell and Miller drew on the bond they developed as screen brothers on Prison Break.

The look and feel of this sci-fi/fantasy series comes closer to the 1960’s Irwin Allen TV series The Time Tunnel than it does to any of its current DC cousins—and maybe that was deliberate. The eighth episode, for example—in which Jefferson is attacked by bird-like humanoids created by Savage—and the Egyptian flashbacks will have older viewers flashing back to Allen’s campy Time Tunnel and Lost in Space. Like those series, the hand-to-hand battles are clunkier in Legends of Tomorrow, and there are more Power Rangers moments (especially scenes featuring bounty hunter Chronos). The season-long plot also has more of a single trajectory than the other DC television series. In Supergirl there’s an arc that pushes from one episode to the next, but each episode is also different to a degree and self-contained. There’s less of that in Legends of Tomorrow, which relies more on a simple plot for the entire season: stop Vandal Savage and save the future world from destruction.

Is it entertaining? Yes. Is it addictive? Not as much as Arrow, The Flash, or even Supergirl—at least in the early episodes. Give it a chance, though, and Season 1 really picks up during the second half. It gets more complicated, and time travel to 1871 (where they meet Jonah Hex) juxtaposed against a trip to 2147 push the show toward a strong finish.

Language: Nothing bad here
Sex: Kissing and implied coupling, but nothing shown
Violence: The usual superhero/sci-fi/fantasy violence, graphic but without much blood or gore
Adult situations: Nothing besides good vs. evil predicaments
Takeaway: Irwin Allen lives!

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR (Blu-ray combo)

August 18, 2016

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

Grade: C+/B-
Entire family: No
2016, 114 min., Color
Universal
Rated PG-13 for fantasy action, violence, and some sensuality
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-X Immersive Audio
Bonus features: B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

If you only looked at Rotten Tomatoes you’d think that The Huntsman: Winter’s War is a real stinker. Out of 183 critics, only 31 pronounced it “fresh,” while the 152 calling it “rotten” gave it an average rating of just 4.2 out of 10. That’s the kind of score you’d look at and think, “This movie isn’t even worth renting.”

Not so, people. While there are plenty of things wrong with this follow-up to Snow White and the Huntsman, whose 49 percent “fresh” rating starts to look stellar by comparison, there are also plenty of things to enjoy.

Chief among them are the nifty special effects and action sequences that help to bring this fantasy world to life. Black tentacle-daggers, fluid gold, and a live-action version of the ice-action we saw in Frozen are all flawlessly rendered. Battle and fight scenes are convincing, and the art and set designers do a decent job of creating a fantasy world that feels believably fantastic. The cast and their performances are also very good, and, apart from a few eyebrow-raising lines, so is the dialogue.

So what’s the problem? Well, The Huntsman: Winter’s War is both disjointed (kids will say “confusing”) and derivative—two strikes against it that make critics crazy enough to act as if it were three.

Winter’s War starts out as a prequel (“The Story before Snow White”), but then fast-forwards past the events of the first film. So it’s a prequel and a sequel rolled into one. There are a lot of unwritten rules in filmmaking, but this seems like a pretty big one to break. Adding to the confusion, like too many fantasies, Winter’s War is more complicated than it needs to be. It’s also dark. Freya (Emily Blunt), the younger sister of Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) whose spirit had been trapped inside the mirror and released by her sister, falls in love with a nobleman (Colin Morgan) she later believes has killed their child. She retaliates and leaves the kingdom to set up her own frozen kingdom. And yes, like Disney’s Elsa she has cryokinetic powers. She can build walls, put people in the deep freeze, and does so with more deliberate evil than her Disney counterpart. But even Disney’s ice queen is more developed as a character than Freya, or her sister, for that matter.

Much of the narrative revolves around Freya, who has ordered her minions to kill parents and abduct the children to “save” them from a world in which love is a hurtful lie. She trains them to become her soldiers with but one rule that tops even abject obedience: no one must ever love or fall in love. And the queen keeps an ever-watchful eye on her minions by using a magical, mechanical snowy owl and an owl mask. But because the Huntsman gets a backstory, we can assume this story is his. Eric (Chris Hemsworth) is one of those kidnapped children raised not to love, and yet he can’t help falling for his tough female counterpart, Sara (Jessica Chastain). Life gets complicated for them after that, to state the obvious without spilling spoilers.

Frozen parallels abound—so many that you wish the filmmakers had been more creative—and when the snow queen rides a polar bearish creature it’s impossible not to also think of The Chronicles of Narnia or The Golden Compass. Thank God for dwarfs. Four of them (Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach) liven things up and also provide opportunities for the writers to lighten the mood. With Hemsworth and Chastain they make for an engaging flight-quest story, despite the structural and conceptual problems.

This Blu-ray combo pack comes with an extended unrated version, but parents will find the PG-13 theatrical version strong enough. It’s every bit a movie for teens and older. Note that the Blu-ray version comes with three additional bonus features, all worth watching, and since this special effects fantasy looks best in HD going “Blu” makes the most sense.

Language: “Pissed” is the only language that intrudes on this fantasy
Sex: Blurred, side-view nudity that implies sex, but nothing graphic
Violence: Main characters are thought to be killed, others are skewered or shot; plenty of fighting and battle violence, with relatively little bloodshed
Adult situations: The whole dark fantasy tilts more toward the adult realm than the child’s; this is a movie made for adults that was edited to make the PG-13 rating so children could also see it
Takeaway: A stronger concept could have made Winter’s War a winner, but even as is it’s a film my teens said they’d watch again

BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT (Blu-ray)

July 28, 2016

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

Grade: C+/B-
Entire family: No
2016, 111 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13 for sexual material and language
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C-
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

I missed seeing Barbershop (2002), Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), and the spin-off, Beauty Shop (2005). But because it’s been more than 10 years since the last one, I wasn’t at a disadvantage. Barbershop: The Next Cut stands on its own, and though it could stand a fresher plot, the cast (old, plus new) is still entertaining.

My wife and I watched with our two teens, and it surprised us how often we found ourselves laughing out loud at the banter between characters that were sometimes a few hairs short of being total caricatures.

But the plot is both simple and formulaic: Calvin (Ice Cube) still owns a barbershop on Chicago’s south side, where old-timer Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) does more talking than trimming and Raja (Utkarsh Ambudkar) is the only non-black. To keep the business thriving, Calvin has partnered with Angie (Regina Hall), who runs a beauty shop out of one half of the space. But making money and making jokes take a backseat to their big concern. Every day in the neighborhood there’s a shooting, and the violence between rival gangs has gotten way out of hand—so bad, in fact, that Calvin and the rest of the Barbershop “cutters” are facing the same crisis as the rest of South Side Chicago: they can’t even walk the streets without thinking their lives are in danger. Trigger-happy gang members are taking innocent lives and rapidly making that part of the city uninhabitable.

It’s gotten so bad that Calvin and his wife, Jennifer (Jazsmin Lewis) are considering abandoning the shop his father once owned because they are worried their teenage son, Jalen (Michael Rainey Jr.), might not live to see 21 if they remain. Calvin is even looking at properties on Chicago’s safer north side—though he’s keeping that a secret from his cutters, stylists, and regular customers. They include a caterer (Anthony Anderson) who tries to profit any chance he gets; a fast-talking entrepreneur named One-Stop (J.B. Smoove); a goofy nerd (Lamorne Morris); and a hunky cutter (Common) that draws the wrath of his wife-stylist, who also happens to be Calvin’s sister Terri (Eve), when he appears to flirt with stylist Draya (Nicki Minaj), whose rear-end is the “butt” of many jokes. No subject seems off-limits for comedy, including Black Lives Matter and Michelle Obama. And of course there are Bill Cosby and Justin Bieber jokes.

Director Malcolm D. Lee seems comfortable blending comedy and serious issues, though the latter is rolled up in a main plot that feels too easily resolved. Barbershop as social center? Totally believable. Barbershop as town hall meeting site? Also believable. Brokering a ceasefire between the rival gangs, with a free haircut day to draw attention to it? Considerably less believable, but not as hard to swallow as a facile ending. Still, the message is a good one, and the jokes wrap the package nicely.

But parents be warned. Some PG-13 movies come closer to PG and are acceptable for younger-than-teen viewers as well. Barbershop: The Next Cut will have you raising your eyebrows at a few risque scenes that seem closer to an R-rating, as when a man’s wife presents her fully clothed bottom, wiggles it around, and says something like, “Go ahead, put it up there.” Though there are no nude or sex scenes, there are a number of sexual references like that (including talk of big butts and masturbation) which could make for uncomfortable viewing for some families.

Lanaguage: Mild swearwords throughout, along with at least one F-bomb and liberal use of the “N” word.
Sex: Nothing shown, and no nudity, but multiple instances of sex talk
Violence: Talk of a young boy being killed, along with a few gunshots and in-your-face pushing, but no blood
Adult situations: Mostly sex talk and gang confrontations
Takeaway: Rotten Tomatoes critics gave Barbershop: The Next Cut the highest rating of the four franchise films, with the original Barbershop coming in second; our family was split along gender lines, with the males giving it a B- and the females a C+

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 Batman v. Superman review 1 Comment

Grade: 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.”

Batman 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.

Here’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.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 (Blu-ray combo)

June 28, 2016

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

Grade: C+/B-
Entire family: No, but darned close
2016, 94 min., Color
Universal
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: D
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is cute enough, but as with so many sequels there seems to be a play-it-safe mentality at work: Hit those referential touchstones that remind viewers of the first film, and rely on a familiar plot that feels like comfort food.

The math doesn’t quite work out, but 14 years after longhaired Anglo Ian (John Corbett) wooed shy and awkward Toula (Nia Vardalos) away from her you-must-marry-a-Greek family, the pair has a 17-year-old daughter named Paris (Elena Kampouris) who’s facing similar pressures. But that plot is as lukewarm as microwaved food, and it turns out to undercooked.

The main plot centers on the patriarch and owner of the Dancing Zorba Restaurant, where Toula now works. Gus (Michael Constantine) notices all these years later that his and wife Maria’s (Lainie Kazan) marriage certificate isn’t signed . . . meaning they’re not legally married. And the movie tracks the tension between them after they feel themselves suddenly “single.” So basically screenwriter Vardalos turned to a standard sitcom plot, rather than trusting that a new generational culture clash could shoulder the load again.

As a result, this much-awaited 2016 sequel isn’t as entertaining as the 2002 original, but it is, as I said, cute enough. For that, credit the characters that Vardalos created—characters based on her own life. The patriarch, Gus, still thinks of Windex as a panacea, still insists the Greeks invented pretty much everything, and still seems only to tolerate his non-Greek son-in-law at best. The closeness of the Portokalos family is both celebrated and gently ridiculed to the point where they become a collective character and running joke. They’re fun to watch. Are they also a bit much? Well, in all honesty, the overly familiar main plot wears on you more than they do. I mean, we’ve seen it before on TV shows like I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilligan’s Island, Happy Days, Scrubs, and more recently Good Luck Charlie. That’s how familiar it is. And a second underdeveloped sideplot about the romance going out of Toula and Ian’s life doesn’t help much.

So you walk away from My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 having been entertained by the characters and the competent screenplay, but thinking it could have had more laugh-out-loud moments and been more original. Such is life in Sequel Land. But you know what? Our family still liked it enough to put it on the shelf so we can watch it again some night.

Language: None at all
Sex: One brief aborted lovemaking session in a car
Violence: None—unless you call getting hit by a ball violent
Adult situations: Male genitals are referred to as “the plucky” and a teen is told to hurry and marry before her eggs dry up; drinking and one episode of drunkenness
Takeaway: Some PG-13 films could be rated R; this one could and maybe should have been PG, because it’s really pretty innocent

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (Blu-ray)

June 16, 2016

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

Grade: C+/B-
Entire family: No
2016, 112 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13 for some violence and action
Aspect ratio: 2.41:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C
Trailer
Amazon link

Midnight Special is a strange movie about a boy with strange powers that are never fully explained, even as the film tries to transcend its limitations to enter Steven Spielberg territory toward the second half.

In giving us a different kind of Close Encounter with a sorta-human version of E.T., writer-director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories) hovers over Sixth Sense territory as well. Yet, as much as you keep watching with interest, this 2016 sci-fi drama is uneven and kinda cops out when it comes to explanations.

You can picture Nichols’ mind at work: Okay, start with a young boy who has special powers (Jaeden Lieberher)—a boy who was taken from his parents and raised for two years by the leader of a religious cult (Sam Shepard) that thinks he’s the key to life itself. Have them be investigated by the FBI, then have his parents decide they want to rescue him, and, with the help of his best friend, have Dad (Michael Shannon) grab the kid and hits the road. Of course the kid’s powers have to be cool—Light shooting from his hands? Ability to unleash a light attack on people who would harm them?—and then bring in some alien or alternate universe elements to keep viewers guessing. But mostly run with a chase story and lean heavily on Shannon, Joel Edgerton, and Kirsten Dunst to pull off the roles of parents and friend on the run, trusting that viewers will go along for the ride and not ask too many questions.

As I watched this PG-13 rated film with my son, I found myself asking plenty of questions, starting with the title. “Midnight Special” is a traditional American folk song about a train from Houston whose light would shine on a prisoner’s cell as it passed every evening. If you know that and think about it, the title fits. But if you’re not getting the allusion, the title probably makes no sense. The pacing also makes no sense. You’ll be chugging along at a slow pace with not much happening and then WHAM! Something freaky or strange happens to make you go, huh? or wow! Sometimes it’s violence. Sometimes it’s violence that reminds you of cartoons, because characters that seem to get shot point blank just bounce up as if nothing happened. Sometimes it’s a new sci-fi wrinkle. But it’s never character development (there’s no arc to follow), and you don’t really get much in the way of why any of this is really happening. That misguided urge to understate is the film’s chief weakness.

Maybe in some perverse way it’s also the reason why Midnight Special holds your interest as much as it does. You keep watching, hoping to piece everything together. In the end, how much you enjoy this movie may be tied to how much you’re willing to accept the information you’re given and not demand more than that. But the actors also do their part to keep you hanging on, with Shannon especially turning in a fine performance. Star Wars fans will also enjoy watching Adam Driver leave the Dark Side to play a lead investigator.

Midnight Special depends on the element of surprise, so that’s all I’m going to say. I thought it was slightly better than average, but my teenage son was more into it . . . enough to shelve it and watch it again sometime.

Language: No F-words, and less than a handful of others
Sex: None
Violence: People are shot point blank, involved in violent car crashes, and bloodied
Adult situations: Nothing besides the above, plus intense pursuit
Takeaway: Sci-fi thrillers walk a fine line between telling too much and revealing too little, and you’ll either walk away from this shrugging, or you’ll be fascinated enough by the film’s unique elements to give it thumbs up

EDDIE THE EAGLE (Blu-ray combo)

June 15, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Biopic, Comedy, Drama, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

Grade: B+/A-
Entire family: No, but . . . .
2016, 106 min., Color
20^th Century Fox
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive elements, partial nudity, and smoking
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: B
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Most of the time you can’t trust the glowing blurbs on Blu-ray and DVD boxes, but USA Today’s description of Eddie the Eagle as “delightfully feel-good” pretty much sums it up. And you don’t have to be a sports nut to enjoy this 2016 comedy-drama.

Eddie the Eagle is the latest sports biopic to celebrate the underdog who wins despite losing. It’s a movie that will remind you a lot of Cool Runnings, which told the story of a group of Jamaicans determined to enter the Olympic bobsled competition with the help of a has-been coach. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if writer Simon Kelton and director Dexter Fletcher had that 1993 Disney biopic in mind when they added a disgraced flask-carrying coach to the otherwise mostly true story of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, the Brit who was determined to represent his country in the Olympics no matter what sport, and who first took up ski jumping in his early ‘20s. Most competitors had been training since the age of six, so how is that possible? Because Great Britain hadn’t had an Olympic ski jumper since 1929, and all Eddie had to do to qualify for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was to make a single minimum jump.

If it sounds like a sports film with no competition (and therefore, no interest), far from it. Eddie has plenty of obstacles to overcome. He may have boundless energy, enthusiasm, and dedication, but his athletic ability is
slightly above average, at best. Mostly, he’s competing against his own limitations, but there are subplots as well. After trying unsuccessfully to make the British Olympic downhill ski team, he thought he found the perfect loophole to allow him to fulfill his dream of competing in the Olympics. But the British Olympic Committee had ideas of their own. Then Eddie thought the battle would end after he was accepted as an Olympic participant, but next came a wave of negative reactions from “legitimate” ski jumpers. Even when he made it to Calgary, there was still the reaction from his unsupportive father to contend with.

Taking a page out of Billy Elliot, the filmmakers concoct a parallel conflict with a disapproving dad who wants his son to face facts and get a legitimate, respectable, paying job. Like Billy, whose dream was to dance rather than box, Eddie is obviously hurt by the lack of support, but undeterred. What makes Eddie such a likeable hero is that he just keeps going, eyes on the prize. While others around him drink, his beverage of choice is milk. While others have full social lives, Eddie has only a fellow outcast—the coach (Hugh Jackman) who is at first reluctant to take him on.

The real Eddie the Eagle was called “Mr. Magoo” by some journalists, and the way that Taron Egerton plays him you can’t tell whether Eddie is in some way disabled or if he’s just a simple man whose I.Q. isn’t the highest. He’s like the kid with glasses who was always picked on at school, or the mutt you rescue rather than entering him in a dog show. But in a world where winning is narrowly defined and you have people like Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Miller complaining that second place is the first loser, Eddie Edwards is a refreshing example of pursuing a dream that’s scaled down. He doesn’t dream of winning the Olympics. He dreams of participating at that level, and in following that dream he’s as inspiring as this biopic is entertaining.

The film may be rated PG-13, but I think children as young as 10 would enjoy this film, since the adult elements are understated. And the 7.1 soundtrack and glorious HD make you feel as if you’re experiencing it right there.

Language: A few mild swearwords and that’s it
Sex: The coach uses a lovemaking analogy to get his pupil to understand that at the moment of liftoff it’s corresponds to orgasm; very brief glimpse of male backside
Violence: Real footage of wicked wipe-outs are shown
Adult situations: Some smoking and drinking, with one instance where the other jumpers get Eddie intoxicated
Takeaway: Like Hoosiers and Cool Runnings, this is one underdog story that should get a lot of replay because the writing is crisp, the performances are engaging, and there are some good messages for youngsters

Family Home Theater

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (Blu-ray combo)

EQUALS (Blu-ray)

HONEY 3: DARE TO DANCE (Blu-ray combo)

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR (Blu-ray combo)

BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT (Blu-ray)

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

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 (Blu-ray combo)

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (Blu-ray)

EDDIE THE EAGLE (Blu-ray combo)

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