MOVIE REVIEW: HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U

Collegian Tree Gelbman wakes up in horror to learn that she's stuck in a parallel universe. Her boyfriend Carter is now with someone else, and her friends and fellow students seem to be completely different versions of themselves. When Tree discovers that Carter's roommate has been altering time, she finds herself once again the target of a masked killer. When the psychopath starts to go after her inner circle, Tree soon realizes that she must die over and over again to save everyone.

Director: Christopher Landon

Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Rachel Matthews, Suraj Sharma, Ruby Modine

Release Date: February 13, 2019

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for violence, language, sexual material and thematic elements.

Runtime: 1h 40 min

Review:

Happy Death Day was one of those rare surprises in the horror genre that just come out of nowhere.  It had a nice twist on the slasher genre and a likeable lead that carried the film well.  The sequel is sadly a bit of a downgrade in quality, since it’s sapped of the original’s fun tone in favor of a more convoluted and complicated story.  Christopher Landon switches up the first film’s trope by throwing in a sci-fi slant that could have led to some fun situations if they’d explored the concept a bit more than they do.  Jessica Rothe is still great in this entry, she’s such a fun actress who shows a healthy bit of range, more so than in the first film.  Sadly, her comedic talents aren’t used to their fullest extent here and it’s to the film’s detriment since it never as consistently fun as the previous film.  It’s a shame because you could see a healthy amount of possibilities in the concept and Rothe within this series.  Sadly, the sequel just ends up coming off as a pale imitation of the first film with far less pop and energy.   

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: LIFE OF PI 3D

Yann Martel's ponderous adventure novel gets the big-screen treatment with this Fox 2000 adaptation helmed by director Ang Lee. The coming-of-age story surrounds the son of a zookeeper who survives a shipwreck by stowing away on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. Suraj Sharma heads up the cast as the young boy, with Gérard Depardieu, Adil Hussain, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, and Bollywood actress Tabu also starring. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Ang Lee

Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu

Release Date: Nov 21, 2012

Rated PG for peril emotional Thematic Content and Some Scary Action

Runtime: 2 hr. 5 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

Ang Lee’s wonderfully epic and visually stunning parable on life religion and survival is dense but still fairly accessible. The film’s plots starts grounded but gets more mystical existential as we move along. Along the way we are treating to a visually stunning and utterly engrossing parable that borrows from many a religious source. There are big topics at play here but it’s done, with the help of some truly stunning 3D, in an intimate and personal way which makes the entire easier to digest without losing much of the sentiment. At its center is Hollywood newcomer Suraj Sharma who performance impresses throughout. He’s given the Herculean task of carrying the film while working on a green screen mostly by himself. Sharma conveys a bevy of emotions throughout the span of the film, his face and eyes expressing heartbreak and hope while he traverses a Job like set of trials. His shipmate, a meticulously created CGI tiger is a marvel of technological achievement. If there is a fault to be found here it’s the film’s insistence on making sure we don’t miss the point by restating it various points throughout especially near its finale.

B+