MOVIE REVIEW: MOANA

Young navigator Moana (voice of Auli'i Cravalho), the daughter of a Polynesian tribal chief, is chosen to find a precious artifact that could save her people. She teams with demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to locate a legendary island, and together the pair explore fantastical lands and encounter incredible sea creatures in this animated adventure from Disney. The film's soundtrack includes contributions from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony and Grammy-winning creator of the popular stage musical Hamilton. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Director: Ron Clements, John Musker    

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Auli'i Cravalho, Jemaine Clement, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger. 

Release Date: Nov 23, 2016    

Rated PG for peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements.

Runtime: 2 hr. 13 min.    

Genres: Action/Adventure, Animated, Comedy, Family    

Review:

Moana is a wonderful breath of fresh air into the Disney princess genre which had relied on damsel in distress for far too long.  Moana luscious visuals and joyful music perfectly captures the energy of the storytelling on display.  Moana’s story is a classic example of “The Heroes Journey” with all the hallmarks evident along the way.  Auli'i Cravalho voices Moana with an earnestness that brings true heart and depth to her character.  Dwayne Johnson is well cast as Maui, a Polynesian Prometheus trickster character, and works as a perfect counter balance to Cravalho.  Moana relies on so many classic tropes that it sounds like it should come off as stale.  Instead it is a vibrant journey which is closer to what I’d hoped Pixar’s Brave would have been.  Moana will likely face a bevy of comparisons to Frozen, an overrated movie in my opinion, but it’s a far better film overall.

A

MOVIE REVIEW: MEN IN BLACK 3

IN THEATERS

MEN IN BLACK 3



The Men in Black are back, and this time Agent J (Will Smith) must take a trip into the past in order to save both the future and his taciturn partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) in the third installment of the hit sci-fi comedy series. After 15 years of working with aliens from all across the cosmos, Agent J is sure he's seen it all. But just when he's getting the hang of the game, he learns that history has inexplicably been rewritten. In this new timeline of events, Agent K has been dead for 40 years, and Earth will soon come under attack from an extraterrestrial force with the power to claim the entire planet. Now, in order to set the past straight and head off an invasion of epic proportions, Agent J must travel back to the year 1969, when Young Agent K (Josh Brolin) was just a fresh new face on the force. But Agent J only has 24 hours to find the source of the coming catastrophe and discern how his longtime partner ties into the situation -- should he fail he'll be stuck in the past forever. Jemaine Clement, Alice Eve, and Emma Thompson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson

Release Date: May 25, 2012

Rated PG-13 for Sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content

Runtime: 1 hr. 44 min.

Genres: Comedy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

The first Men in Black was one of my favorite blockbuster films when I was in college, I went the see it a multitude of times during its initial run. Its comedy and stars chemistry just hit me perfectly. As much as I loved the original the sequel was an utter mess, filled with too many talking animals and some of the worse product placement I’d been witness to in a film. The long wait for a third film has brought back some of the good fun from the original while injecting some new blood while keeping it fairly familiar. Barry Sonnenfeld learned his lesson from the 2nd film and keeps the focus on K and J’s interactions instead of silly secondary characters. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith jump back into their roles with incredible ease. Tommy Lee Jones is only asked to bookend the film but his turn as K has always been one of my favorite things about these films. Josh Brolin makes his absence easier to deal with as he delivers a spot on performance as a younger K. Brolin does more than just mimic Jones; he infuses the performance with a good sense of heart and depth. He and Smith share a strong chemistry, had they not worked well together the film would have fallen apart. Jemaine Clement, whose villain looks like Hugo Weaving on steroids, is fun but underused. Michael Stuhlbarg delivers a strong supporting performance which is touching and heartfelt. The plot is fairly typical sci-fi fare, its light and fun but bringing enough emotional depth to bring the franchise full circle. Some of the script does feel a tad lazy and some of Smith’s dialogue and one liners fall flat. The finale does feel very familiar to the first film’s climax which emphasizes the laziness to a greater degree. Regardless, the film is enough fun to keep you grinning for its run time.

B-