It’s rare that a sequel can equal or surpass the original film, but Bird and his cast and crew deliver the goods with Incredibles 2. It was certainly worth the wait, though it should be noted that Bird did not spend 14 years developing the story or waiting for technology. He directed Ratatouille, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland, each taking at least a year or two to make. He also didn’t want to do something that was not up to the standards set by the first film. He could have dashed off a sequel years ago, and it probably would have been pretty good, but this feels like 14 years of care has gone into it to make sure it’s as good as it possibly can be, and if it takes another 14 years for us to get Incredibles 3, as long as it’s as good as Incredibles 2, it too will be worth the wait.
Read moreDespicable Me 3 (2017) ***
Despicable Me 3 is, by far, the weakest entry in the series. The best parts of the film deal with real-world issues like parenting and adjustment to new situations and the blandest parts are the copies of the previous films. Hopefully the repetitive story elements (and songs) will be ironed out and moved past if they go for a fourth and if not, we’ll just get the same cookie-cutter plot with new aspects of Gru’s family life layered on top of it and it’ll probably be funny and occasionally touching, just like this one.
Read moreStorks (2016) **
The degree to which Storks doesn’t work is astounding given the quality of animated films over the last 20 years or so. As the bar repeatedly gets raised (normally by Pixar, occasionally by DreamWorks or Disney), the flotsam and jetsam leading up to the bar gets more and more piled up. This isn’t the worst animated film of the year, Angry Birds still holds that title, but this is close. It’s frustrating when a clever concept gets buried in unnecessary plot and ignores the characters only to force development upon them in the last act whether they earned it or not. Keep the kids home and watch Zootopia or The Jungle Book instead or if you’re intent on going out, see Kubo and the Two Strings, everyone will be the better for it.
Read morePete’s Dragon (2016) ***
It’s no wonder Disney tapped Lowery and Halbrooks to make their upcoming live-action Peter Pan, given the solid treatment they gave to this film, transforming it from a dreadful musical to something magical. This picture also opens the door to a wide range of older Disney films, considering that they aren’t sticking to their animated films now. I honestly wonder if in the next five years or so we’ll be getting an update to The Apple Dumpling Gang or perhaps The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Whatever the future holds, Pete’s Dragon is a sweet little film that, while it doesn’t come close to topping The Jungle Book in terms of live-action remakes, it’s still a good film and a vast improvement over its source material.
Read moreThe Big Short (2015) ***1/2
The Big Short may not light the world on fire the way it seems like it wants to, nor will it likely be widely remembered past awards season, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a really good movie. It achieves about 80% of what it sets out to do, and that’s pretty successful for a picture of this kind. McKay’s boldness to make the picture is certainly rewarded with the final product and it serves as a valuable resource for people to get at least a semblance of a handle on what happened in 2008. That’s not to say the film should be taken as gospel, it’s still a movie after all, but it may at least spark an interest in finding out how the big banks really caused the near-destruction of the world’s economy and that’s at least a start.
Read moreThe Revenant (2015) ***1/2
The Revenant is a long film that if you are not immediately engaged in, it will not hold your attention. It is demanding and nuanced and never spells out what it’s doing or where it’s going. Iñárritu and co-writer Mark L. Smith leave out a lot of overt exposition and trust the audience enough to let them piece everything together. This isn’t a film that one watches easily and it’s also one that demands multiple viewings. This film may prove to hold DiCaprio’s finest performance, which is saying quite a lot considering the great roles he’s played over the last fourteen years. The Revenant is tough, engaging and downright fascinating to watch.
Read moreThe Hateful Eight (2015) ****
The Hateful Eight is a testament to the fact that Quentin Tarantino has never made a bad film and that most of his films could rightfully be called masterpieces, this one included. He has a command of the art form that few people ever achieve and this film stands next to his other greats Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. The film may not be for all tastes given the high level of violence and gore along with the (time-period authentic) use of the N-word, but it is important not just because it was the first film to use UltraPanavision 70 in 49 years but because it is an exemplary film filled with interesting and amazing characters, magnificent camera work, masterful direction and writing and an end product that makes you respect some of these loathsome characters even if you may not be able to go all the way to liking them. Tarantino’s full forces are on display throughout the film, making it a glorious thing to behold.
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