Men in Black: International (2019)

I was so excited for a new Men in Black movie.  It didn’t have Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones in it.  Ok.  Fine.  That’s not the end of the world.  Emma Thompson’s there, offering some bit of continuity.  Frank the Pug has a cameo, as do The Worms, so there’s that.  Even thought it’s a mostly new cast, this could still work out.

The Men in Black are facing two threats.  One is from the Hive, an insidious organism that absorbs races rather than kill them.  The other is from an apparent mole in the organization.  When Agent M and Agent H are tasked with protecting an alien dignitary, said dignitary is killed under their watch.  Agent M is understandable, as she’s the probationary agent.  H is more experienced, although it doesn’t really show.

So, the two go off on a planet-wide adventure to figure out what’s going on and to protect the Earth from aliens that might do it harm.  Not everything is what it seems, though.  Friends might be enemies.  Enemies might be ordinary people just trying to protect themselves.

While the movie was fun, it didn’t quite capture the magic of the first three movies.  K was a straight man to J’s comedic personality.  The first three movies seemed to flow naturally as almost a single story.  This seems to be a case of trying one too many times.  Yes, it hits a lot of the marks, like fast action sequences and interesting aliens, but it’s just not the same.

Part of it might be that the first three movies had a clear enemy.  (Edgar the Bug, Serleena and Boris The Animal, respectively.)  The Hive is a little too amorphous and hidden to be taken seriously.  I get that having your own people pose a threat is something in itself, but the movie focused too much on the chase scenes and not enough on any real sense of urgency.  Agents M and H get to spend the night in the desert repairing an alien motorbike.

I also get that the stories for J and K had an arc and that arc came to an end, but it seems kind of sudden to simply replace them as lead characters.  It might have worked better to replace one or the other first.  Having cameos by other characters isn’t enough.  It’s too much of a clean break to really carry the momentum.

The London branch seems like a pale comparison of the New York branch.  How, exactly, did H become an agent, anyway?  He seems too laid back to be taken seriously.  I get that he does have skills, but the first time we see him, he’s “meditating” on the job.

While we’re at it, it’s evident that there are more than 26 agents.  New York didn’t seem to have that many agents and could have done with letters for names.  London has a lot of people.  Do they reuse letters?  MIB 3 had an agent AA, if I recall, but all of the characters shown on screen have a single letter: Z, J, K, O, M, H or C, for instance.  It’s also possible that people just use their first initial.  James D. Edwards became Agent J.  Molly Wright became Agent M.  Dealing with two agents with the same letter might be like dealing with two agents with the same name.  It also might explain why Liam Neeson’s character is called High T.

There are a few other issues that I have with the movie, some of which can’t be asked without spoiling the ending.  While it was a fun movie to watch, I was a little let down.  It’s just not the same.  I suppose another installment might do better, but this could very well be a case of a franchise going one movie too far.  It might have been better to leave well enough alone.

IMDb page

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

All things considered, I’m not sure what to make of the movie.  The movie starts with a man entering a hotel room and hiding a duffle bag beneath the floorboards.  (Even this one act is difficult, as he has to rearrange the furniture and move it all back when he’s done.)  We don’t know what’s in the bag yet, but it must be important.  After he finishes it all, he answers a knock at the door and is promptly shot.

Ten years later, several guests arrive at that same hotel.  Father Daniel Flynn and Darlene Sweet are the first two we meet.  Laramie Seymour Sullivan is next.  Them, Emily Summerspring.  Then there’s the clerk, Miles Miller.  He does this little routine about the hotel being on the California-Nevada border.  (For some reason, the California side costs a dollar more.)

Each of the characters has a past and most aren’t what they seem to be.  If you’ve seen the coming attractions, you know that the priest isn’t really a priest.  Even if they’re honest, they all have something to hide.  Even Miles has a past he’d like to forget.

The movie seems to be a study in contrast.  You have the hotel on the border of shady Nevada and sunny California.  Each character has a face they present and a past that they hide.  Even using Darlene Sweet and Daniel Flynn as the first two characters seems to be a choice in that he has the most to hide whereas she’s the only registered guest that never tries to hide her name.

The movie is enjoyable, but not perfect.  While watching the movie, I wasn’t really distracted by anything.  However, it was one of those movies that I started wondering about after I left the theater.  It’s not that any one aspect was lacking.  It was more that the movie never really seemed to come together.  None of the characters really seem to progress throughout the movie.

There aren’t any characters that I really hated or liked, and I find that I usually need someone to like or hate.  I can see that each character has at least one redeeming quality and at least one regret, but the movie doesn’t quite seem to make it work.  It seems like everything about the movie has to be a dichotomies.  (Some are more obvious than others.)

This is a movie you could be forgiven for not seeing in the theaters.  If you’re going to watch it, I’d recommend waiting for it to come out on DVD. 

IMDb page

12 Strong (2018)

sHaving MoviePass means that I’m getting movies by the month, which makes for some strange decisions.  12 Strong is not a movie I would normally have seen in the theater.  The Commuter is not a movie I would normally have seen in the theater, either, but I had already seen that.  Still, I managed to make it all the way through both movies.  I think that’s more of an accomplishment with 12 Strong.

For those that haven’t seen the coming attractions, 12 Strong is about a group of soldiers, Green Berets and CIA operatives that were sent into Afghanistan shortly after the September 11 attacks.  The goal was to take a city called Mazar-I-Sharif.  Apparently, it’s important to the Taliban.  Captain Mitch Nelson is given command of the titular 12 that are sent in to meet with General Dostum.

Dostum leads a local army that will be helping Nelson and his men.  Before the group takes Mazar-I-Sharif, they have to go through and bomb several other areas.  The first area takes a few tries to get right, but they do level it.  Subsequent areas seem to go more smoothly.  They do eventually make it to Mazar-I-Sharif and take the city, as planned.  All 12 of the men get to go home safely.

The movie wasn’t quite as exciting as I would have expected with a war movie.  Part of this may be because the movie seemed to be going through the motions rather than writing an interesting story.  I understand that there’s only so much you can do with a true story before it becomes fiction, but the movie seemed somewhat bland.

Take the fact that they had to go through several cities before capturing the big city.  I didn’t really understand why they couldn’t go to the important city first, then maybe work their way back if they the other areas.  I’m sure there’s a reason for this, but I don’t recall it being covered in the movie.  Nelson and Dotsum lead their respective troops from area to area, blowing stuff up as needed.

The movie even starts with two of the soldiers telling their wives that they‘re leaving.  Captain Nelson even promises his wife that he’ll come home alive.  Bad idea?  Yes.  Cliché?  Most definitely.  Does it make the story more poignant?  Not really.

I think the biggest negative for me was that there wasn’t much of a sense of accomplishment.  It’s not really stated why any of the targets had any value, other than that’s where the enemy was.  There was mention of another team being sent in to take a different path, but any sense of competition wasn’t brought up that often.

When I came out of the movie, I felt like I was missing any sense of new perspective.  It seemed like this was the version of the story you’d tell to someone who had been there.  I get that the mission was accomplished in abut three weeks when it was supposed to take about two years, but it just didn’t seem that difficult.  The movie didn’t seem to convey any sense of scale or tension.  It just told the story.  If you want to see it, I’d wait for it to come out on Netflix.

IMDb page

Ghostbusters (2016)

I’ve never cared much for remakes.  Even when they’re good, they tend not to be as good as the original.  If you’ve seen both, you tend to compare them and the one you saw first will usually be the better one.  The first Ghostbusters movie came out in 1984 with a sequel released in 1989.  There had been talk of a third installment since then, but it never materialized.  Instead, we got a reboot with four female leads.  People were unhappy about this.  Granted, it’s a pretty big departure from the original, but if that was the only complaint, I’d probably like the movie.  I was even pretty psyched when I first saw a trailer for the movie.

The new movie carries over the basic plot.  Four people with an interest in the paranormal form a business dealing with the supernatural.  Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates are friends since grade school.  They bonded over that interest in ghosts.  They even wrote a book, which Erin tried to bury when she set out to get tenure.  Abby, on the other hand, started working with Jillian Holtzmann on a college campus.

Abby’s publishing of the book doesn’t help Erin.  When someone approaches the trio about a haunted tourist attraction, the subsequent YouTube posting gets Erin fired.  So, now the three are left to form what they call Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination.  They set up shop above a Chinese restaurant since it’s the only place they can afford.  The final addition to the team is Patty Tolan, who works for the MTA.

Several more ghosts appear, all due to devices placed by one Rowan North.  He’s trying to trigger the apocalypse.  By bringing ghosts to our plane of existence.  At first, it’s hard for anyone to believe what’s going on.  Even after they capture a demon at a live music performance, they still have their doubters.

Add to this the Department of Homeland Security and the New York Mayor’s office trying to discredit them.  Both appreciate the Ghostbusters’ efforts, but can’t publicly acknowledge that ghosts are real.  As you might imagine, we’re in store for an epic human-versus-ghost battle for the final act.  Rowan is able to get his wish, leaving the Ghostbusters to save the city.

When I went to rent the movie from Netflix, I was a little disparaged by the movie’s low ratings.  I had heard that it wasn’t as good as the originals, but I couldn’t be sure where this was coming from.  There are two possible paths you can take with a reboot.  You can either try to stick as close to the original and risk not living up to it or you can try to distance yourself and still be seen as an inadequate copy.  It’s basically the devil’s fork.  Either way, you’re being compared to the original and you‘re probably not going to be seen as being better.

I do think that the movie is decent in its own right.  Doing a carbon copy of the original serves no purpose.  Instead of trying to start anew, the movie decides to embrace its origins.  Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd both make cameos, as do Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts.  Even Stay-Puft and Slimer come back for this installment.

I think your enjoyment of this movie is going to based on what you bring to it.  There is a 30-year gap between the older movies and this one, so some people will be coming in to it with fresh eyes.  Those that saw the originals may not be impressed as much.  I would say to forget about any baggage you bring in with you.  If you see it as a new movie, it is enjoyable.

One thing I noticed was that the movie took advantage of being letterboxed.  I’ve often thought what a shame it was not to be able to rent a 3D movie.  I get that it’s impractical to release a 3D movie on DVD.  Even if you sell glasses in the package, DVDs by mail and streaming movies are so popular that there’s no easy way to get glasses to the customers.  Do you mail them with the DVD?    If you do, do you expect them back?  Is it fair to expect people who stream to get their own glasses?  You could give out cheap ones for free or you could sell good 3D glasses, but how many people would even take advantage of it?

With Ghostbusters, some of the effects extend into the matting above and below the actual motion picture.  It does sort of give a vague sense of 3D, kind of.  It’s nowhere near perfect, but it is thinking outside of the box.  This is the only attempt I can recall even being made.

On IMDb, under the movie’s connections, I do see an Untitled Ghostbusters Project.  I think the biggest measure of the movie’s success for me will be how that sequel turns out.  This movie walked a tightrope between using the old and coming up with the new.  The second movie will be the test for me as to whether or not they can stand on their own.


IMDb page

Thor (2011)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

I’ve been meaning to watch The Avengers, which is based on the Marvel Comics universe.  The problem is that it draws from other Marvel-universe-inspired movies, including Thor.  It’s not that I mind watching many of these movies.  I had already seen Iron Man and probably would have watched Iron Man 2 anyway.

In Thor, the main character is Thor, Norse God of Thunder.  He’s the son of Odin, King of the Asgard.  Thor is about to receive some more power, but the Frost Giants attack Asgard to get back a relic.  (Years ago, the Asgard took said relic from the Frost Giants causing them to become mortal enemies.)  Thor drives back the unexpected attack, but wants answers.  He goes to their home planet and upsets an uneasy truce, requiring Odin to save Thor.

As punishment, Thor is banished to Earth.  His hammer, Mjolnir, is sent to Earth, as well.  Thor is found by Jane Foster, who is doing research with Erik Selvig (her mentor) and Darcy (her assistant).  The hammer attracts the attention of locals at first, then the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., who want to figure out what it is.  Thor finds that he is stripped of his powers; he has to live on Earth as a mortal.  This isn’t easy for someone who’s as arrogant as Thor.  Of course, that’s the point.  Thor has to learn humility.

As you might expect, not all is going well on the Asgard home world.  Thor’s brother, Loki, is living up to his reputation as a troublemaker.  When Odin falls into a coma, it becomes evident that Loki is up to no good.  With Thor on Earth, there’s no one to stop Loki from doing as he pleases.

I have to admit that half of my motivation for watching this movie was because I want to eventually see the Avengers.  The other half was curiosity.  I was sort of familiar with the Marvel comics and wanted to see how they would handle it as a movie.  (Yes, this is one of those movies where someone has to learn a lesson and does so at the last possible moment.)  It’s also fun watching someone’s take on mythology.

The CGI was great.  Asgard and the Frost-Giant planet both appear to be all CGI.  (At least, the exterior shots anyway.)  The story was a little weak.  It seemed mostly like it was setting up The Avengers movie.  There were two notable references to other movies in the Marvel Universe.  At one point, Eric Selvig talks of knowing someone who was researching gamma radiation.  In another scene, a giant robot lands on Earth.  Someone asks if it’s one of Stark’s, referring to Tony Stark.

This isn’t to say that the movie’s not entertaining.  I rented it from Redbox for free using a code from Checkpoints.  I don’t know that I would have wanted to see the movie in theaters, but it was still fun to watch at home when I wasn’t paying for it.  I’d say that if it comes on one of the premium movie channels or you can get it on demand, go for it.  (Also, as with the other movies, watch after the credits.)

You don’t really have to have seen any of the previously released movies to watch this movie, nor will watching it ruin the other movies, but you may miss a few references.  It’s also not a movie for small children.  I’d say it’s good for teens and up, mostly due to some violence.  All in all, not a bad movie. 

IMDb page