GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION

An apocalyptic sequel with more formulas than hope. 

“Greenland 2: Migration” is the sequel to the 2020 action hit regarding a family man being randomly selected to join a bunker in Greenland when an asteroid makes impact on Earth. Most of our planet has been obliterated, but there are some places that might have a fighting chance at providing sanctuary.  It is always nice to know that humanity can thrive after an apocalyptic event, and there are some impressive special effects and action sequences to keep movie goers at bay.  However, it all feels so routine, and relies on too many formulas and not enough time to get to know some of the new characters. If it’s a sequel that takes place after the end of the world, then there should be some survivors who can share their views of what has happened and how they want to move forward with what’s left of Earth. There are some who do, but either they are killed off too early or they can’t join the main family. At least one person is able to near the end. 

Gerard Butler reprises his role as the engineer and family man John Garrity, as well as Morena Baccarin as his wife Allison, and now, Roman Griffin Davis replaces Roger Dale Floyd as his diabetic son Nathan. Ever since their time in the bunker, people are beginning to stress out about being cooped up in there, resources may be running out, and nobody knows how long this bunker can hold. In the meantime, John goes outside with a suit and mask in a radiated environment for some supplies and whatever he can find.  His son might be entering the rebellion stage when he pops outside for a few minutes. As Allison says: “He’s just like his father.” What son wouldn’t be? 

Clarke was the name of the comet that destroyed Earth, but it’s conceivable that since life began anew after the dinosaurs were destroyed, then maybe it can happen again - but in a different place. The best bet would be in Europe, especially when it has been avoiding the radiation storms. So, that’s where John must relocate his family to  at this point. 

Directed once again by Ric Roman Waugh, “Greenland 2: Migration” should be as entertaining as it suggests. We have people getting out of the damaged bunker and struggling to get on the lifeboats that are left on the beach.  There is also another when the family is lucky enough to make it across two sets of makeshift bridges-one made of rope and the other made from ladders.  Of course, everyone else has to fall off.  Those scenes are fun, but the sequel suffers from too many formulas. There has to be side effects to being outside in the radioactive air , even with the suits on. We don’t get much out of the son, who mostly observes his surroundings, but he does share his passion for the constellation. Before and after Clarke and the other space rocks set things in motion. 

Butler does some good work and he’s an actor who mostly specializes in the action genre, but he needs a little more character development. We have so many action sequences involving gunmen and marauders  that there’s barely enough time to take a breather.  When we do, they last about 5-10 min utes. 

I guess that if Spider can now breathe Pandora’s air in “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” then maybe John and his family can dodge the hostile environment of what used to be Europe - or what’s left of Europe to be exact. “Greenland 2: Migration” is serviceable, but not really worth rushing to the theaters to see.

28 YEARS LATER - THE BONE TEMPLE

Guillermo Del Toro stitches up one hell of a monster movie. Seeing Guillermo Del Toro’s vision of “Frankenstein” on 35mm film is almost like watching a classic film on screen. You can tell by the tiny black dots and the white circle that appears on the top right corner of the screen. I would say every twenty minutes or so, that white circle would appear twice in a row. Well, at least that is how I saw the movie, and I love being reminded of film prints. Yet, even if I did not see this in that format, I was mesmerized by how Del Toro tells a Frankenstein story through the perspectives of both the creator Victor Frankenstein and the monster, and how it differentiates between the meaning of being a human or monster. It is in the same realm about how someone tries to play God and how that creation can be more than that. 

He refuses to disrespect Mary Shelley’s story and presents it as a gothic movie that reminds us of other movies like “Interview with the Vampire” or “Crimson Peak” (which Del Toro also made). There are also some moments that almost feel like they were borrowed from “Beauty and the Beast” or “Edward Scissorhands.” It all depends on if you can read between the lines. Even if I did not see it in that format, I was dazzled by the visual world that he presents. Thinking back to some of his movies like the “Hellboy” movies, “Pans Labyrinth,” “The Shape of Water,” and “Pinocchio,”, I acknowledge that the filmmaker refuses to take the easy way out and impresses us with his vision. How he sees these movies is how he makes them, and we are watching them with a sense of awe and sense of discovery. 

Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein, who finds himself being pursued by his own creation (Jacob Elordi) on an expedition ship toward the North Pole, and telling the captain (Lars Mikkelsen) his story. How his strict baron father (Charles Dance) expected him to be a better doctor (Christian Convery plays the young Victor) and how his mother (Mia Goth) died giving birth to his younger brother William (Felix Kammerer). He talks of his decision to change the course of science with reanimation through the financial assistance of the arms manufacturer Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), how he met William’s fiancée Elizabeth (also played by Goth), and how his creature turned out. 

The creature starts off learning to speak almost on a “Planet of the Apes” level. He keeps saying: “Victor, Victor, Victor.” Just “Victor”, until he can say “Elizabeth”, and then learns how to read books. No help from Victor, of course. Isaac is great as Victor in the ways that he draws us into the character’s complexity, which questions his humanity. Elordi, who stands at 6’5, is disguised by make-up and plays the creature who may have to kill some people but still should not be labeled a monster. There have been many Frankenstein movies, good or bad, and they want to show different aspects of the story, doctor, and monster.

In Del Toro’s vision, he takes the time to show us how man can still be a man or transition into a monster, and how a creation can either learn to be human or still be a monster or maybe both. Add a remarkable art direction, incredible set and creature designs, Dan Lausten’s darkly radiant photography, and Alexandre Desplat’s haunting score, and you have yourself a gem of a monster movie. 

Disclaimer: I’m not praising “Frankenstein” because Del Toro said “F*** A.I.” at. a screening of this movie, although I am on his side 100%. I’m praising it as a visual wonder sewn together with his personal touch. 

THE SHEEP DETECTIVES

Ewe need to see this delightful whodunit. The title of this family whodunit is named “The Sheep Detectives,” but it might as well as be labeled “A Hugh Jackson Movie With the Voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bryan Cranston.” Now, it would be sold in a heartbeat. This movie plays almost like a cross between “Shaun the Sheep,” “Babe,” and “Knives Out,” as we follow some sheep who must play detective. Hence, the title: “The Sheep Detectives.” It might sound like a silly movie, but it is silly for the right reasons and knows how to be delightful and insightful. 

Based on Leonie Swann’s book with the screenplay by Craig Mazin, Jackman plays a shepherd named George Hardy, who is more of sheep person than a people person. When it comes to his sheep, he treats them like his own children. Every night, he reads to them murder mysteries, which he likes to pretend they understand. They understand pretty well with the smartest sheep Lily (voiced by Louis-Dreyfus) correctly guessing the true culprit. One day when George is found dead, Lily finds out she is now in a real-life murder mystery and knows the rules, including the motives, the suspects, and the new additions to the case. We have a rival farmer (Cole Tosin), a butcher (Conleth Hill), an inn keeper (Hong Chau), the local priest (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), the town’s only bumbling cop Tim (Nicholas Braun), George’s lawyer (Emma Thompson), his estranged American daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon), and the would-be reporter Elliot Matthew’s (Nicholas Galitzine). Any one of them could be the true culprit. 

Lily’s fellow sheep incudes the cynical and lonely black ram Sebastian (voiced by Cranston with some “Isle of Dogs” reminiscence), the memorious Mopple (voiced by Chris O’Dowd), the head bumping ram twins Reggie and Ronnie (voiced by Brett Goldstein), the old timer Sir Richfield (voiced by none other than Sir Patrick Stewart), the white sheep Cloud (voiced by Regina Hall), the long haired Wool-Eyes (voiced by Rhys Darby), and the curious lam Zora (voiced by Bella Ramsey). Only Mopple and Sebastian are by her side on the case, and even without the hopping technology of “Hoppers,” they are quite clever. 

I saw this movie last Friday on the same day I was given a look at “Animal Farm,”. I think the sheep whodunit is the one families should be seeing. It does not go for the obligatory livestock flatulence jokes or bad farm puns (in fact, the chicken crossing the road actually works here), but chooses to speak to different levels of the target audience: the parents who love murder mysteries and the kids who need some whimsy and positive messages in their lives. “The Sheep Detectives” is a little long, but it has more appeal to the genre and the characters than “Animal Farm” or “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” It likes to give these sheep positives messages about losing a loved one, and apparently they think that sheep can’t die but turn into clouds (funny, I was thinking of the “Johnny Appleseed” segment of “Melody Time” suggesting the clouds were apple blossoms) and believe that forgetting bad things will automatically work on the count of three. 3 2 1. What were we talking about? 

The human actors are charming, especially Jackman, Galitzine, Gordon, and Braun, and the voice actors are exuberant, especially Louis-Dreyfus, Cranston, and O’Dowd. In fact, there is a certain kind of “Paddington” spirit in them that makes them quite appealing. I can’t believe it’s been six years since I saw one of the worst family films of the CGI animal and live action human hybrid genre, “Dolittle.” We have been trying to avoid another disaster like that ever since that release. “The Sheep Detectives” is far from a disaster. It was directed by Kyle Balda, who worked on the animation special effects for movies like “The Mask” and “Stuart Little 2,” and directed illumination animated features like “The Lorax” and “Despicable Me 3.” Making his live action directorial debut, he knows how the use the actors, special effects, and story. He trusts that the target audience will enjoy it on different levels. In fact, this is one of the best family films of the year. Sorry about this, Mario and Luigi.