FILM REVIEWS
As many already know, I do compose film reviews. However, I also like to show appreciation for the work of other film critics. Listed below are some reviews done by Christopher Julius Zweig, who runs a site entitled “CJ At the Movies”. He is a New Jersey resident who often travels to New York City to catch as much movie screenings as he can. Christopher is an autistic young man who would like to prove to people that he is more than meets the eye. I should say he has achieved said goal many times over. His other reviews can be found here: CJ @ the Movies – I'll See You at the Movies
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING
A fun, but overlong Mission Impossible conclusion. That is if it is the last entry. If you recall the first part of “Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning,” Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt had to stop the new villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) from setting off an A.I. doomsday device known as the Entity. The villain manages to escape, but not before Ethan snatches the key from him. Now, “The Final Reckoning” has the weapon turning everyone against each other with the power of A.I., and at this point, it is difficult for even Ethan’s IMF agency to trust him. On one hand, if he defies his orders, he could save the world. If he screws up, the world could end. If his agency takes matters into their own hands, then the world could end as well. So, Ethan needs them to trust him “one last time,” and we, the fans and audience, have always trusted him. However, I wonder if he can trust the audience.
I recall a conversation from a friend of mine at the time of the first part’s release which was in the same year with “Fast X” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” He told me he didn’t really like sequel cliffhangers, and as I described to you in the first paragraph, the villain doesn’t get away with the weapon. Besides, if you put both movies together, it would have been over five hours. Splitting them into two movies is obviously the better idea, but I think I prefer the first part over the second part.
At this point, Ethan’s remaining allies consist of the computer tech Luther Strickel (Ving Rhames), the other tech Benji (Simon Pegg), the pickpocket-turned-IMF agent Grace (Hayley Atwell), the assassin-turned-goodie Paris (Pom Klementieff), and the young IMF agent Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis). The people cautious of Ethan’s actions include the former-CIA-director-turned-POTUS Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) and the former-MIF-director-turned-CIA-director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny).
I saw “Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning” at an IMAX theater in NYC, and it is definitely an action movie you want to see in theaters and wait months and months for it to come on Blu-Ray or streaming services. We don’t need to see it online already; we need to keep making the movie-going experience a reality. This is one of those “see what you think” kind of sequels, and I needed time to examine my thoughts. I had fun with the action sequences and jokes, but this whole thing needed to be shorter.
I also was chewing the fat with a grocery store cashier who shared his passion for Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, and Jack Nicholson, and in regard to Cruise, we both admitted our affection for “Top Gun” and “A Few Good Men.” He also admitted that those two films distinguish Cruise from his other roles in terms of his acting abilities. I know he always delivers the goods as Ethan Hunt, and he still does here. He does his own stunts while also adding some sly wit and attitude in the mix. There are times when you can tell when there are green screens, but there are also times when you believe he is risking his life.
We also get some entertaining work from the supporting cast. I still like Rhames, Pegg, Atwell, Morales, Klementieff, and Bassett. Yet, I also like how they add other names like Nick Offerman (as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and Hannah Waddingham (as an Admiral) in the mix. I appreciate some of the throwbacks to the 1996 film. In the end, I would have liked it better if the screenplay they were given was more challenging and less recycled.
The budget for “Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning” is between $300 and $400 million, which is a lot more than the last entry. While I think the budget here is more well spent than what the Russo brothers put in their crappy robots and wasted talents in “The Electric State,” I still think that these amazing action sequences take too long, and we would like to get to the pay-off of those scenes soon. This review will self-destruct in five seconds.
LILO AND STITCH
This remake is little and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good. I basically had the same reaction towards the live action remake of “Lilo & Stitch,” as I had with “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” and that is that there is more magic with the human worlds than the fantasy worlds. The aliens in this version are inferior to the animated ones in 2002, but the humans and title alien Stitch are much more appealing. Also, there are some actors who are unconvincing in their roles, but there are those who do deliver.
The box office disaster of “Snow White” has caused Disney to put a hold on a “Tangled” remake with no arguments from me. It is obviously for the best, considering that it was indulging in the remake genre and how the motion capture work for the seven dwarfs gave me uncomfortable feelings. I would take this Stitch over those dwarfs any day of the week, and he doesn’t succumb to kid movie tropes like “Pinocchio” did a few years ago.
You know the story of how the alien experiment 626, A.K.A. Stitch, crash lands on Planet Earth on the island of Hawaii and disguises himself as a dog in order to be adopted by the misunderstood little girl Lilo. Her older sister Nani struggles to make a great impression for the social worker and struggles to adapt to Stitch’s entrance in their world. The alients who must capture Stitch are his creator Dr. Jumbaa and the mosquito expert Agent Pleakley. Their alien effects are crappy, but on Earth they are able to take the forms of Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen. I prefer the late David Ogden Stiers and Kevin McDonald from the original movie, whereas these characters in their alien forms are unappealing and Galifanakis sounds more like a computer nerd here as Jumbaa, while Magnussen sounds more alien than comical. Stitch is so indestructible that he is able to survive getting run over by a tour bus unlike Mark Wahlberg getting killed by a fire truck at the end of “Flight Risk.” He does have the stomach to drink out of a lava lamp.
Chris Sanders, who co-created the 2002 film, reprises his voice role of Stitch, and he still sounds like his iconic Disney character. Even today, Jodi Benson still sounds like Ariel and Linda Larkin sounds like Jasmine. I also can do a good impression of Stitch myself, but I don’t think I should be cast in this remake.
The cast also includes newcomer Maia Kealoha as Lilo and Sydney Agudong as Nani. We also get Courtney B. Vance as Agent Cobra Bubbles, who must disguise himself as a social worker in order to track down the alien. Kaipo Dudoit serves as Nani’s surfer friend David, and Hannah Waddingham is the voice of the alien Grand Councilwoman. Some of the original voice actors of the 2002 animated film include Tia Carrere (Nani) as another social worker, Jason Scott Lee (David) as Nani’s former boss, and Amy Hill (Mrs. Hasagawa) as David’s grandmother Tutu.
The message of the original “Lilo & Stitch” was “Ohana,” which is Hawaiian for “family,” and “family means nobody gets left behind.” This new version still grasps that message. Growing up in the 2000s, I was delighted by the original movie, and I still have my reservations against this live action remake. Yet, I was able to overcome whatever cynicism this version throws at me. Kealoha is funny and likable as Lilo, Sanders still delivers as the voice of Stitch, and Agudong does some good work as Nani. I was more interested in their surfing scene than I was with the alien world in which it hails.
This remake was directed by Dean Fleisher Camp, whose “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” was on my Ten Best list three years ago. It doesn’t exceed that masterpiece, but it does like to broaden the original story a bit and allow Stitch to use his iconic lines a lot better than how the late James Earl Jones did as Mufasa in the 2019 “Lion King” remake. There are many contradictions when it comes to live action remakes. Some succeed, others fail, but this “Lilo & Stitch” still surfs.
HOW MOVIE THEATERS SHOULD BE NOW
When I go to commercial movie theaters like AMC Theaters or Regal, I estimate the previews that about twenty minutes or more. We also get pre-shows in which the theaters would gloat about digital projectors and Nicole Kidman cameos. Each time, I beg for the movie to begin, because I have a life outside the cinema. I would send a message to AMC Theaters, but they do not care about our problems, as far as I am concerned. So, all I can do is write this article about how the movie going experience should be enjoyable, not time consuming. I am sure a number of you would agree with me on the following topics.
I have been noticing that the printed tickets are not very clear on what theater number the specific movie is playing at or the seat number. Instead, we mostly see codes and logos. What it should be is the theater name, the theater number, and the seat number as big of a font as the ticket can hold. Because people do get lost from time to time, and not everyone has good eyes. There are elderly people in the audience, too.
Here’s another concern of mine. Lately, movies that are currently in theaters have been releasing on streaming services a few weeks later, which is totally threatening the theater industry. They should come out on DVD, Blu-Ray, or whatever streaming service will hold them a few months later. We may live in a time of Netflix and Hulu, but movie theaters are still full of memorable and exciting moments. We need to get out more often and broaden our tastes.
The only few times is when I am glad previews are twenty-minutes long are if I was running late because I would consider that a security blanket. But in most cases, I still think they should be shorter. Ten or fifteen minutes of previews should be enough to warm people up for upcoming films, but we don’t care about the theater promos which are self-congratulatory.
I am sure most of you are also aware of the fact that “A Minecraft Movie” has started a nationwide theater reaction trend on social media. This regards to fans making disruptive speeches as the film was beginning, and to a scene when Jack Black’s character says “Chicken Jockey.” That quote has sparked youngsters to throw popcorn and make noise in an intense manner. This subject matter has to do with you movie goers. Some of us want to watch the movie and not a fiasco. Also, theater employees are humans and not slaves.
Most chain movie theaters have popcorn sizes in either medium or large. The only way you can get a small popcorn is if you buy the kid’s pack. There are smaller theaters that have all sizes, including small. I understand that concessions are what helps make the movie industry, but some of us do not want too much popcorn. There are many things that make the movie going experience enjoyable, and long previews, rambunctious “Minecraft” fans, and poorly printed tickets are not among them.
As a film critic, I am glad I get to go to press screenings with no previews. But as a person, I think you can agree with me on all the things I have mentioned. I can not really speak about prices, because you know how the economy is these days, but I can sympathize with you who deserve a great theater experience.