SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO

FBI agent Matt Graver calls on mysterious operative Alejandro Gillick when Mexican drug cartels start to smuggle terrorists across the U.S. border. The war escalates even further when Alejandro kidnaps a top kingpin's daughter to deliberately increase the tensions. When the young girl is seen as collateral damage, the two men will determine her fate as they question everything that they are fighting for.

Director: Stefano Sollima

 

Cast: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Donovan, Isabela Moner, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Catherine Keener

Release Date: June 29, 2018

 

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama

Rated R for strong violence, bloody images, and language

Runtime: 2h 3min

Review:

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a solid sequel even though it is missing that spark that made the original film so impressive.  Losing Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins was bound to leave a gap but new director Stefano Sollima tries his best to keep the aesthetics the same and general feel of the original.  Still there’s a noticeable talent gap which is compounded by some truly bleak sequences which are as shocking as they are rather unnecessary.  The script has a strange undercurrent of nastiness which can distract you from some strong performances.  Benicio del Toro drives the film with an impressive showing expanding on his character from the first film.  Del Toro is always the most interesting person on screen while Josh Brolin is a close second.  Brolin adds some needed depth to his character but the film doesn’t spend as much time cultivating it as it should.  Isabela Moner is a strong child performer who emotes fairly well even though she’s not given a ton of dialogue.  Catherine Keener is given a thankless role which wastes her considerable talents which is a real shame.  The film’s twisty plot is kind of muddled and once the film gains momentum it suddenly just ends with a door flapping open for a sequel.  It’s weird to think of this series being a franchise but that’s where the film leads us.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM

Three years after the destruction of the Jurassic World theme park, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing return to the island of Isla Nublar to save the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano that's about to erupt. They soon encounter terrifying new breeds of gigantic dinosaurs, while uncovering a conspiracy that threatens the entire planet.

Director: J. A. Bayona

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, B. D. Wong, Jeff Goldblum, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Isabella Sermon, Geraldine Chaplin

Release Date: June 22, 2018

 

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril

Runtime: 2h 8min

Review:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a fun if forgettable sequel in a franchise that seems to be losing anything new to say.  J. A. Boyona does a fine job directing the film, infusing it with some of his horror sensibilities.  The film is a collection of big set pieces, at times it feels like the film’s plot is merely an excuse to move from one set piece to another.  The story itself is rather silly and the more you think about it the dumber it is.  The new characters and villains are all about as paper thin and clichéd as they come.  Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard continue to share strong chemistry which is a strong point of the film.  They both have plenty to do this go around so they’re fully engaged even though it’s a bit of a shame that the movie wasn’t slightly better.  The supporting cast is made of strong name actors but the film doesn’t seem interested is using them for anything substantial.  Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is one of those sequels that is easily forgettable because it lacks anything memorable about itself which is a shame because there’s clearly talent on hand. 

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: TAG

One month every year, five highly competitive friends hit the ground running for a no-holds-barred game of tag -- risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take one another down. This time, the game coincides with the wedding of the only undefeated player. What should be an easy target soon becomes an all-out war as he knows they're coming to get him. 

Director: Jeff Tomsic 

Cast: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Annabelle Wallis, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, Leslie Bibb

Release Date: June 15, 2018

 

Rated R for language throughout, crude sexual content, drug use and brief nudity 

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min. 

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Tag is one of those goofy comedies that shouldn’t work because of the flimsy premise but it succeeds more often than not.  Jeff Tomsic creates a fun little film that moves along at a steady pace with the “tag” sequences standing out for ingenuity.  The film’s biggest asset is it’s collection of stars.  They all share good comedic timing and chemistry together.  The jokes go off in fairly rapid fire manner with the movie never lingering too much on anything to avoid stagnation.  Its breezy style makes it easier to overlook some of the horrible things these friends do to each other.  Still it makes for a funny movie that’s got a beating heart underneath it’s crude exterior.  There are a few dead spots here and there but nothing damning even though they could have used female members of the cast a bit more.  Same complaints aside, Tag is a surprisingly funny film that doesn’t disappoint. 

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

 

When a volcano threatens a (re)extinction-level event, dinosaurs remaining in the shuttered park must be rescued.

 

Dear reader(s), in the interest of full and fair disclosure, I'll admit I'm not exactly invested in the Jurassic series. I bet there's not a single movie--not even the one that's been popping up on cable for two and a half decades--that I've watched more than once. They're definitely the sort of action-packed pictures that appeal to me, but but for some reason they've never become favorites. That being said, a new Jurassic movie is what's out this weekend, so a new Jurassic movie is what I saw, and it was...okay.

 

First, the pluses: I love dinosaurs. These dinosaurs look amazing. When ol' T-Rex comes at ya from the screen, it's all you can do not to back away, and that's not even in 3D! There's not nearly enough Jeff Goldblum, but no movie was ever worse for having him, even in limited quantities. Bryce Dallas Howard quickly swaps stupid heels for a very sensible pair of boots. Well done, filmmakers, on correcting my biggest complaint from the last movie! Fallen Kingdom has some decent jump scares and one particularly well-choreographed action sequence. It's always a crap-shoot with kid actors, but we've got us a tolerable one here. The movie runs a hair over two hours, but doesn't really seem that long, and Michael Giacchino provides another of his epic scores.

 

Now, the minuses: Really, Fallen Kingdom just isn't all that interesting. It's a done-to-death story (not always with dinos, of course), and the one-trick pony that is Chris Pratt is wearing out its welcome, at least for me. The two main supporting characters are too cartoonish to add much, and Howard is bad, just bad. In fact, the camera wastes a great deal of time lingering on the expressions of people who just aren't that...expressive. It's silly to the point of hilarity. At one point a guy down the row from me stage-whispered, "This is stupid!" I giggled, wondering if he expected Star Lord vs. T-Rex to be an intellectual pursuit, but then I thought, you know what? This IS stupid. Its execution is stupid. It's still a decent bit of summer fun, but...it should have been so much better.

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom clocks in at 128 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and peril."

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will undoubtedly continue the franchise's streak of my not watching more than once. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom gets five.

 

Until next time!