Kung Fu Panda 3 review

KUNG FU PANDA 3:

A SATISFYING THIRD HELPING OF DUMPLINGS, NOODLES, AND KUNG FU!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

20TH CENTURY FOX AND DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

(From left to right) Mantis, Monkey, Tigress, Po, Crane, Viper, and Master Shifu ready to kick some butt in Kung Fu Panda 3

            The Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five are back in the third installment of DreamWorks’ critically and commercially successful Kung Fu Panda trilogy. Much like the previous two films, Kung Fu Panda 3 is gorgeously animated (the lighting, character designs, backgrounds, action sequences, I mean WOW!), has well-developed characters, the same voice actors reprising their characters, filled with Kung Fu action, and a lot of drama (I know a movie, with the title “Kung Fu Panda” cranks up the drama), but it still manages to have plenty of comedy to balance it all.

            It’s quite impressive Kung Fu Panda was able to stay fresh for three movies, because usually when the third movie comes around, the series tends to go downhill after that, that’s exactly what happened with DreamWorks’ Shrek movies. But after seeing Kung Fu Panda 2, I couldn’t wait to see what was happening next for the characters, especially since we now know there are more pandas out there (little spoiler from the last movie), and Kung Fu Panda 3 did not disappoint.

            The film follows Po (voiced by Jack Black-School of Rock, Be Kind Rewind, Goosebumps) completing his final lesson in mastering the Dragon Warrior power with Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman-Kramer VS Kramer, Tootsie, Rain Man). Shifu informs him that he must transition from student to Kung Fu teacher to fully harness the power of the Dragon Warrior. And knowing Po, he feels he’s not ready to start teaching Kung Fu, when he himself still has some problems with it himself.

            But then he soon realizes that there is a new panda in town known as Li Shan (voiced by Bryan Cranston-Godzilla (2014)) who is searching for his long lost son, yeah I think you know where this is going. It turns out Li Shan is Po’s father that protected him from Lord Shen’s wrath that assumedly wiped out all the pandas.

            So Li Shan takes Po and his adoptive father, Mr. Ping (voiced by James Hong-Wayne’s World 2, Mulan, The Big Bang Theory) to the panda village Po was born in, where he meets his original panda family members as well as some new panda friends and at first it’s quite nice and he learns how to be a true panda, from oversleeping, to stuffing dumplings into his face without chopsticks, and rolling rather than walking. But they soon realize that an evil force is upon them, a power hungry yak who goes by the name of Kai (voiced by J.K. Simmons-Spider-Man trilogy, Juno, Terminator: Genisys) who was banished to the spirit world for 500 years by Grand Master Oogway (voiced by Randall Duk Kim-Anna and the King, The Matrix Reloaded, John Wick) has managed to make his way back to the land of mortals to get revenge on Oogway by destroying everything he cared about by stealing the Chi power from all the great Kung Fu Masters including Po’s friends, Monkey (voiced by Jackie Chan-The Tuxedo, The Medallion, The Karate Kid (2010), Crane (voiced by David Cross-Men in Black, Run Ronnie Run, Pitch Perfect 2), Mantis (voiced by Seth Rogen-You, Me and Dupree, Horton Hears A Who, Monsters VS Aliens), Viper (voiced by Lucy Liu-Charlie’s Angels), even Shifu.

            It’s up to Po, Li Shan, Master Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie-Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Beowulf, Salt), and Mr. Ping to unlock the true power of Chi to defeat Kai, teach an entire army of pandas Kung Fu, and save their friends, and also the world.

            Overall, Kung Fu Panda 3 is one of those perfect third installments, so rare for the third movie to still stay fresh and it doesn’t rehash the first two films. When Kung Fu Panda 2 ended, this is what I wanted the third movie to be about, Po finally finding his long lost father and family, especially after finding out where he came from in the last film, and it did not disappoint, it delivered exactly what I wanted and even more.

            It was both funny and heartwarming at the exact same time seeing Po bond with his dad, even pounding their tummies together is touching, a movie where they can make a scene like that touching and sweet is definitely doing something right. Po, Mr. Ping, and Li Shan all have strong chemistry, obviously it starts off as a dad rivalry between Mr. Ping and Li Shan, but it surprisingly didn’t last as long as I thought it would.

            Also the chemistry between Po and Tigress is great, in all three of the films, they’re both very well developed and they opposite each other perfectly, Tigress being the tough one and Po being the soft lovable oaf, yeah it’s a little clichéd but Jack Black and Angelina Jolie’s voices are what really sells it. Sure Tigress is the more aggressive one out of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean she’s an emotionless buzzkill, she and Po talk to each other about how one another is feeling, of course while pounding each others’ faces in, and their training is funny and it shows how they connect as characters, I always love watching these two together.

            And of course, the villain is a ton of fun to watch, J.K. Simmons as Kai is both awesome and funny at the same time, the best I can describe him is a mix between the villains, Tai Lung from the first film and Lord Shen from the second film, he’s aggressive and powerful like Tai Lung but he has a sarcastic and sinisterly humorous side like Lord Shen, and his chained green swords are pretty cool as well.

            The film offers everything I love about DreamWorks’ animated films, obviously they market themselves to the kids and family audience, but like the How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek movies, this is a movie I think anyone can enjoy, whether you’re a kid, teen, or adult, it makes a perfect movie to see with the entire family. If you’re a fan of the other two Kung Fu Panda movies, you’ll get exactly what you want out of Kung Fu Panda 3, colorful animation, comedy, talented voices, and action, add in an engaging plot and strong character development, it’s a family adventure as big as a Dragon Warrior Sized Dumpling. SKADOOSH Indeed!

The Finest Hours review

THE FINEST HOURS:

IT’S NO TITANIC OR PERFECT STORM BUT IT DELIVERS ENOUGH IMPRESSIVE SPECIAL EFFECTS, GRIPPING THRILLS, EMOTION, AND DECENT CASTING TO MAKE GOOD POPCORN FUN!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

DISNEY

A near impossible rescue is about to begin in Disney’s The Finest Hours

            Director Craig Gillepse (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night (2011), Million Dollar Arm) and starring Chris Pine (Star Trek franchise, Rise of the Guardians) comes a rescue drama based on the true events of the 1952 United States Coast Guard rescue of the SS Pendleton, The Finest Hours, featuring Pine as US Coast Guardsman, Bernie Webber, the man who managed to pull off the US Coast Guard’s most daring sea rescue ever. Surprisingly, besides Saving Mr. Banks, this is probably one of the most grown-up Disney films the studio has ever released, I know they’ve done PG-13 rated movies before those two films and granted it’s not heavily graphic with its intense themes, not to mention they’ve done drama films many times before, dating back to Remember the Titans, but while watching the movie, none of it screamed Disney to me.

            It didn’t feel like a corporate monster like Pirates of the Caribbean or Frozen or a “Disneyfied” take on a true story like Cool Runnings or some of their other films based on true stories, this is the kind of movie I’d assume they would release under their Touchstone banner, which is the more adult oriented and darker half of Disney. The movie was an intense, visually impressive, and more mature spectacle that doesn’t rely on Disney gimmicks, it actually reminds me a lot of films like Titanic or The Perfect Storm.

            The film follows First Class US Coast Guardsman, Bernie Webber (Pine) of Boatswain’s Mate and his crew aboard the SS Pendleton tanker in 1952, when a massive storm of winter waves and winds break the ship in half, leaving the crew lost at sea, Bernie and the crew of the CG500 life boat and USCGC Yakutat surfboat make it their mission to fight their way through the storm to save the Pendleton’s crew before it sinks.

            The movie also stars Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone, Out of the Furnace) as Ray Sybert, Ben Foster (X-Men 3: The Last Stand, 3:10 the Yuma, Lone Survivor) as Seaman Richard Livesey, Holliday Grainger (Bonnie & Clyde, Anna Karenina, Cinderella (2015)) as Miriam Webber, John Ortiz (American Gangster, Public Enemies, Fast & Furious 6) as Seaman Wallace Quirey, and Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down, Star Trek (2009), Hanna) as Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff.

            Overall, The Finest Hours is an exciting rescue drama, lots of thrills at sea, impressive special effects, emotion, and decent chemistry by its stars. Though I still prefer Titanic and The Perfect Storm over this movie, because they took their time to develop their characters, I didn’t think a lot of the characters were developed that well in The Finest Hours, which is my main problem with the movie, fortunately it didn’t bring the whole thing down.

            What does save the movie is Chris Pine as Bernie, not sure if it’s the most accurate representation of the real man but Pine delivers a well developed character that you want to see rescue his crewmates before they die. Besides Pine, Holliday Grainger is equally engaging as Miriam, the love interest to Bernie who also supports him the best she can, definitely a more serious performance than her stepsister performance in last year’s Cinderella movie.

            It doesn’t offer much new things to the rescue drama genre, but if you’re a fan of films like Titanic, The Perfect Storm, Cast Away, or some of those other films, you might enjoy this fine. Don’t expect any Oscar worthy material with this, but if you just want some big, visually impressive 3D popcorn fun, this will be a fine 2 hours of your time. 

The 5th Wave review

THE 5^TH WAVE:

A WAVE OF STALE YOUNG ADULT DYSTOPIAN FANTASTY CLICHÉS WE’VE PROBABLY SEEN MORE THAN 5 TIMES!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

Chloe Grace Moretz and Zachary Arthur surviving The 5^th Wave

            We’ve seen a lot of young adult dystopian fantasy films based on books haven’t we? Dating back to Harry Potter and more recently with Twilight, The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner, and heeeeere’s another one.

            The 5^th Wave, based on the novel by Rick Yancey is the latest Hollywood attempt to cash in on the young adult sci-fi genre, some of them are good like The Hunger Games and some of them are bad (I don’t think I have to say what my bad choice is!). I haven’t read the book coming and I came into the film with very little knowledge of the source material, so I don’t know how accurate it follows the book, so I’ll be judging it like a movie like every other film I see and review here.

            And it’s pretty lousy and confusing as a film, not to say it’s the worst in the genre, nor is it as bad as The Twilight Saga, but it doesn’t have much going for it when it comes to standing out from other young adult novel adaptations, the story has several plot holes as well as plot elements that don’t really go anywhere, and it ultimately just becomes another same old clichéd sci-fi movie for the tweens.

            It’s a real shame because the film is produced by the unbelievably talented producer and actor, Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man trilogy, Seabiscuit, Brothers), directed by J. Blakeson (The Descent: Part II, The Disappearance of Alice Creed), and stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Hugo, Carrie) as the main character. Not to mention from what some reviews I read about the book, it’s apparently a pretty good book, so what happened here? It seems like the writers of the film were more focused on making their characters look good and hot for those teenage girls in the audience over telling a decent story.

            Four waves of sudden deadly alien attacks have left most of planet Earth destroyed. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, teenager, Cassie Sullivan (Moretz) is on the run to save her younger brother, Sam (Newcomer, Zachary Arthur) before the fifth wave hits.

            She teams up with a young man named Evan (Alex Roe-The Cut, The Calling, Sniper: Legacy) who may become her final hope to save the world as well as her brother from the Others (yeah, does every young adult sci-fi movie need to have an odd name for supernatural or inhuman creatures?), but can she really trust him?

            That’s basically the film’s plot in a nutshell, overall it’s a pretty weak young adult sci-fi film, however to its credit, Chloe Grace Moretz and Alex Roe do the best they can to work with the script, but they’re not enough to save the movie. Plot elements that don’t go anywhere, the aliens literally come out of nowhere, we don’t know what they look like, what their plan is, why any of the film’s events are happening, it’s almost like the film is fueled by sequel filler, original and interesting ideas take a backseat for the traditional young adult clichés we’ve all seen a million times by now, dating back to Harry Potter and Twilight.

            I gave Moretz and Roe credit for their performances but the characters are developed rather poorly and they didn’t give me much of a reason to care for them. I want Blakeson to watch a few movies, I want him to watch Hunger Games, I want him to watch Harry Potter, and I want him to watch the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings and I want him to think “Why do I care for these characters, what are they not doing that I did with this movie?” at least they’re more interesting than the lifeless Twilight characters.

            Hopefully the plot will make more sense with some sequels, I’m willing to give it another shot if a sequel is make, because as is it’s confusing and uninteresting, despite a lot of talented people working on it, the film just could not be saved. If you’re a fan of the original book, maybe you’ll like something about the movie, I wouldn’t know because I have not read it myself, but maybe it’s for people who read the book, however if you’re thinking about coming into this movie with little knowledge about it, this probably isn’t your flick.

            Sorry Maguire and Moretz, better luck next time. 

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi review

13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI:

A SURPRISE HOMERUN FOR MICHAEL BAY!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Something intense is going down in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

            Director Michael Bay has quite an interesting career doesn’t he? He started off with the 1995 box office success, Bad Boys which starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, but unfortunately the film’s reception upon release was rather mixed, it certainly wasn’t the worst he had to offer in his career, but it wasn’t a very good start for him. That is until 1996 when he released The Rock, which had more positive reception and like Bad Boys, it was a hit at the box office, it’s not Oscar material or anything like that, but it’s mindless dumb fun, much like his Transformers movie from 2007.

            Unfortunately, his career went downhill with critic reviews but box office results were set to overdrive with the infamous Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, Bad Boys II, and of course, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, all of which were big hits but widely panned by critics, thus resulting in the beginning of Michael Bay’s frequent Razzie appearances. Once in a while he had some decent and less bad movies made in between those critical duds like Pain & Gain, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and the Bay produced films, I Am Number Four and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (although none of these movies I’m defending, if you hate or dislike any of these films I understand perfectly!).

            And after another critically panned Transformers movie released a couple years go, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Michael Bay takes a break from Transformers to attempt another true story dramatization with 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which I had very low expectations because didn’t directing history or true stories backfire exponentially with Pearl Harbor? But when I looked up the cast list and saw John Krasinski (The Office, Away We Go, Leatherheads) and James Badge Dale (The Departed, Iron Man 3, The Walk) were casted, I thought they were very different cast choices for a Michael Bay film, and practically none of his frequent cast collaborators are in this movie, so I have to give Bay props for that.

            What truly got me feeling good about seeing this film were the reviews by Rotten Tomatoes and my local newspaper, the Rotten Tomatoes score was around the scores of the first Transformers movie and The Rock, and when it comes to Michael Bay, an adequate Rotten Tomatoes score is like critical acclaim. Unlike Pearl Harbor, the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attacks is definitely a closer historical event for Michael Bay to utilize his over the top, frenetic action sequences to his advantage, because with a movie like Pearl Harbor, it needed a James Cameron or Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair for that, THIS however, Navy Seals, Marines, and Army soldiers and Islamic terrorists battling each other in a war, lots of explosions, gripping action, shaky cameras, and slow motion, yeah those are his traditional clichés, but when it’s wrapped around a story like this, it makes a lot more sense than putting them in Pearl Harbor with a half-ass Titanic style love story.

            The film follows military veterans, Tyrone S. “Rone” Woods (Dale) and Jack Da Silva (Krasinski) traveling to Benghazi to battle Islamic militants on September 11, 2012 (Eleven years after 9/11 occurred) during the 2012 Benghazi attacks after the militants attacked an American diplomatic compound and a CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya. Rone and Jack join forces with a group of other military veterans that worked in the Navy, Marines, and Army Special Forces to fight back in a war of blood and ashes everywhere, in hopes to make it out of Benghazi alive and see their families again.

            That’s basically the film’s plot in a nutshell, pretty basic, after all it is a Michael Bay film. However, the action is very bloated and filled to the brim with traditional Michael Bay clichés, but unlike his other films, the cast attached to the film is so engaging that it almost doesn’t matter, definitely more gripping with action than any of the Transformers movies put together.

            The film overall is decent for a Michael Bay movie, and usually it’s very rare for a Michael Bay movie to have adequate reviews these days. I may have liked Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction, but I can see why others weren’t very enthusiastic and thrilled about them. But gladly that wasn’t the case here, quite a few people liked 13 Hours, it’s no masterpiece or anything like that, but compared to the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallens, the Pearl Harbors, and Bad Boys IIs we had in his career, it’s on par with The Rock and the first Transformers as one of those silly, over the top Michael Bay movies that you can actually sit down and enjoy from start to finish.

            Though some problems I have is the character development is pretty mediocre as well as a bigger focus on the grittiness and action, if the characters were developed as well as the action scenes, it could be another Saving Private Ryan. So I’m glad I saw this, so rare for me to say that about Michael Bay movies and actually mean it, but hopefully he’ll do more mature movies in the future, as soon as he’s done going back to the same route he’s so used to with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Transformers 5.

The Revenant review

THE REVENANT:

A POWERFUL STORY ABOUT SURVIVAL AND REVENGE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX

Tom Hardy (left) VS Leonardo DiCaprio (right) in The Revenant

            Oscar® winning filmmaker, Alejandro G. Iñárritu (21 Grams, Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) returns with his latest film, a biographical western based on the true events of Hugh Glass and how he survived after being left for dead, The Revenant. I don’t know much about what really happened, so I’m not capable of explaining how accurate the movie represents the events, but as an entertaining movie, it’s both beautiful and cruel at the same time.

            What I mean by that is the cinematography is gorgeous and watching the shots of the mountains felt very massive. But obviously the movie is also very intense and harsh when it comes to its subject matter, getting mauled by a bear, slicing a horse’s stomach open and sheltering themselves inside of it (Yeah I almost made a Star Wars reference when watching that!), a guy being left for dead, and gruesome deaths, definitely darker than Birdman.

            But what truly makes the film shine are the main stars of the film, Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street) as Hugh Glass and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, The Drop, Mad Max: Fury Road) as John Fitzgerald, they bring on the drama and intensity of the situation and it shows how committed they are as actors when portraying the people from the event, not to mention they’re two of my favorite actors.

            Set in 1823, explorer Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear during an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. The expedition soon becomes a quest for survival and revenge as he endures grief as well as betrayal of his confidant, John Fitzgerald (Hardy) after he killed his son as well as leaving Glass for dead.

            Guided by will and the love of his family, Glass must survive a brutal winter in a relentless pursuit for life and justice.

            Overall, The Revenant is a gripping experience, it doesn’t rely heavily on action and bloody violence, though that is part of it, but the film focuses more on character, drama, and suspense. The characters for the most part are well developed, every time DiCaprio’s on screen, you just keep rooting for him until the film ends because you get attached to his character after his crew betrays him and it feels like you’re right there with him on his journey, and of course, Tom Hardy makes the movie, his threatening and intimidating appearance and just how far we can take the cruel things he’s doing before Leo shows up, another great villain performance for Hardy.

            It’s a very different film for Alejandro to follow Birdman up with, because this movie is much harsher and serious than Birdman, which was much more of a comedic art-house film, but like Birdman and even 21 Grams, he puts a lot of effort in bringing The Revenant events to the screen. It’s a well-made dramatization of the true story as well as an intense and entertaining movie.

            The Revenant really shows how far these filmmakers have gone, Leonardo DiCaprio went from the mentally handicapped kid from Gilbert Grape and Jack from Titanic to The Wolf of Wall Street and a man left for dead here, Tom Hardy from a half silly, half intimidating Batman villain to a ruthless hunter who kills.

            If you want to see a well-made dramatization of the true events, you’ll probably enjoy The Revenant and especially if you’re fans of Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Hardy, just make sure you know what you’re getting into. It isn’t as uncomfortable as a movie like 12 Years A Slave, but there’s a lot of intense and graphic moments, and fortunately it doesn’t get in the way from its strong, gripping story.