MOVIE REVIEW: DESPICABLE ME 4

 

Gru welcomes a new member to the family, Gru Jr., who's intent on tormenting his dad. However, their peaceful existence soon comes crashing down when criminal mastermind Maxime Le Mal escapes from prison and vows revenge against Gru.

Director: Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage

Cast:  Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Sofía Vergara, Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, Stephen Colbert 

Release Date: July 3, 2024

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

Rated PG for action and rude humor.

Runtime: 1h 34m

Review:

Despicable Me 4 is light, colorful and breezy enough to entertain, thanks in large part to Steve Carell and Will Ferrell's voice work, but this entry proves to be far more forgettable.  Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage direct the film at a slightly manic pace by offering an overstuffed roster of characters and storylines which makes the whole story feel scattered.  The animation is still incredibly sleek with its bright, angular look which gives children and adults alike plenty of eye candy throughout.  Story wise the film's a overly busy for no reason which leave each story thread feel uncooked.  The addition of Will Ferrell as Gru's nemesis Maxime Le Mal works incredibly well especially when he and Carrell are throwing barbs back and forth at each out.  Ferrell, using a heavy faux French accent, is clearly having a ball voicing the character and the film would have been smart to make him the primary focus since the film works best when his character is onscreen.  The side story's about Gru's Wife and Poppy the aspiring teen villain next door who blackmails Gru, just aren't all that interesting in spite of Kristen Wiig and Joey King's best efforts.  The much advertised Mega Minion's also prove to be little more than seeding for a future spinoff as opposed to a fully formed storyline.  The standard issue minions are still good for a handful of laughs throughout which keeps the whole thing rolling along at a steady pace.  The Despicable Me franchise was never the deepest around but its always been fun, this fourth entry continues that trend but lacks the focus to be truly memorable.

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: BULLET TRAIN

 

Ladybug is an unlucky assassin who's determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs has gone off the rails.

Director: David Leitch

Cast: Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, Sandra Bullock

Release Date: August 5, 2022

Genre: Action, Thriller

Rated R for strong and bloody violence, pervasive language, and brief sexuality.

Runtime: 2h 6m

Review:

Bullet Train doesn't deliver much in terms of story or characterization, instead it relies on spurts of hyper stylized violence and its cast endless charisma.   David Leitch's film is choppier than his last two film, Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde, making the lulls in between the action set pieces much more noticeable and jarring.  When those action set pieces kick in though they do offer some colorful and gleefully violent choreography that gives the film a boost of adrenaline.  The biggest issue being that the remainder of the film's story and character backgrounds are told via flashy slow motion flashbacks with nearly every single character in the large ensemble getting a vignette.  The majority of the character's themselves are incredibly thin with a handful popping up and off the screen with little more than a few lines of dialogue.  The saving grace of it all is the cast who are clearly having a ball hamming it throughout the film's runtime.  Brad Pitt leads the group giving a light, but fun turn as an operative who's looking for deeper meaning in his overly lethal life.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry prove to be standouts together with each of them bouncing dialogue off each other with incredible ease.  They provide the most consistent and energetic characters making their time on screen some of the film's highpoints.  Joey King looks the part but doesn't really add much to her character outside of what's written onscreen even though we're lead to believe she's smarter than nearly everyone.  Hiroyuki Sanada and Michael Shannon have small supporting roles with both punching well under their class but providing the film some credibility even though Shannon is sporting a ridiculously impressive wig and accent.  Bullet Train is the type of film that would have been more effective in a smaller package since it never earns it's two hour runtime and starts to sag noticeably in its final act.  It's still a fairly fun throwback of sorts to those late 90's early 2000 Pulp Fiction knock offs like 2 Days In The Valley, Go or Smoking Aces with a dash of John Woo for good measure.     

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE CONJURING

Insidious' James Wan dips his feet into the haunted-house genre once again with this New Line Cinema production depicting the real-life tale of the Perron family, who claimed to have been terrorized by a series of ghosts. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as paranormal investigators who achieved notoriety from their investigation into the Perrons' house. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: James Wan

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Joey King

Release Date: Jul 19, 2013

Rated: Sequences of disturbing violence and terror.

Runtime: 1 hr. 51 min.

Genres: Horror

Review:

The Conjuring is a well acted, well directed horror film that takes it’s time building scares. James Wan directs his film like an homage to 70’s horror films, it borrows heavily from The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist. Like Insidious, Wan builds up the tension by setting up a chilling atmosphere that’s filled with wonderfully set up moments all done with interesting camera work. Unlike Insidious, the final act doesn’t falter with cheesy monster effects. The final reel is a goose bump inducing horror show that delivers the goods. Impressively, this is all done with very little blood or even cursing, it’s a master class in restraint. The cast is solid but the characters, the Warren’s in particular, are under written. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson shine throughout while creating a palpable and believable loving relationship. Personally, I wish we’d seen a tad more of them and their back story but since this is considered a franchise starter it maybe something we’ll see down the road. Let’s hope the quality stays just as high in future installments.

B+