American Made review

AMERICAN MADE:

WOLF OF WALL STREET IN THE AIR WITH TOM CRUISE, SHOW ME THE MONEY!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Tom Cruise as drug smuggler, Barry Seal in American Made

            Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible franchise, Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow) and director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Edge of Tomorrow) collaborate once again in the biographical crime film, American Made based on the true story of former TWA pilot turned drug smuggler, Barry Seal. Ever seen Flight, The Wolf of Wall Street, Top Gun, and Jerry Maguire? Put all those movies in a blender and you pretty much get American Made which isn’t Doug Liman’s best work but it’s nonetheless a thrilling, dramatic, and surprisingly very humorous caper thanks to an energetic yet compelling performance by Cruise and one of the best roles he’s had in a while.

            Set in the 1970s and 1980s the film follows Barry Seal (Cruise), a pilot for the commercial airline, TWA who is contacted by CIA agent, Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2, Ex-Machina, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) to fly clandestine reconnaissance missions over South America using a small plane with cameras installed. During a mission Seal encounters the Medellin Cartel and asks him to fly cocaine on his return flights to the United States.

            What starts off as a simple drug smuggle ends up putting Seal in one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States that gave birth to the Medellin Cartel and almost brought down the Reagan White House with the Iran Contra scandal as he keeps digging deeper and deeper into trouble.

            The film also stars Sarah Wright (7^th Heaven, Parks & Recreation, 21 & Over) as Lucy Seal, Jayma Mays (Red Eye, Flags of Our Fathers, Glee) as Dana Sibota, Jesse Plemons (Varsity Blues, The Master, Bridge of Spies) as Sheriff Downing, Lola Kirke (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Mozart in the Jungle, Gone Girl) as Judy Downing, Jed Rees (Galaxy Quest, Family Guy, Deadpool) as Louis Finkle, Caleb Landry Jones (Friday Night Lights, X-Men: First Class, Get Out) as JB, and Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate: Atlantis, American Odyssey) as George W. Bush.

            Overall, American Made is both an entertaining movie and one of those films where you sit there and you can’t believe that what’s being shown on the screen actually happened. Good thing they reminded us that it was “Based on a True Story” at the beginning of the movie and through the marketing because unless you have a lot of knowledge regarding the actual story you’d be watching it and saying “Dayum!” every time you see what Tom Cruise does throughout this film.  

            Not to mention the movie is also a great nostalgic throwback to the 70s and 80s with the production design and camera work. The way the movie is shot feels like a movie from that era literally right down to using the old Universal and Imagine Entertainment logos at the beginning of the movie.

            But what keeps the movie entertaining is the performance by Tom Cruise and it truly is the best I’ve seen him since Edge of Tomorrow and Tropic Thunder because it’s one of those rare instances where he’s not portraying the action hero though I wouldn’t classify him as an antagonist either. You grow attached to his character and despite that what he’s doing is completely wrong you end up rooting for him to avoid going to prison.

            I also appreciate that the movie throws in a comedic tone to accompany the biographical drama genre with this movie in a similar way as The Wolf of Wall Street. There’s pausing and rewinds of the movie followed by narrations by Tom Cruise which is very reminiscent of the editing and pacing in The Wolf of Wall Street.

            If you’re a fan of drug-themed crime films like Blow or The Wolf of Wall Street then you’ll probably enjoy American Made. It doesn’t follow in the footsteps of some of Liman’s other movies like The Bourne Identity or Edge of Tomorrow but it’s a solid film that manages to thrill, educate, hit your feels, and make you laugh, definitely a worthy flight.

The Lego Ninjago Movie review

THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE:

DAZZLING ANIMATION, EXHILARATING ACTION, AND SOME DECENT GAGS, THOUGH IT LACKS THE CHARM OF THE EARLIER LEGO FILMS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

(From left to right) Jay, Zane, Kai, Cole, Lloyd, and Master Wu in The Lego Ninjago Movie

            The bricks are back in the next installment of the Lego franchise, The Lego Ninjago Movie, following the success of 2014’s The Lego Movie and February’s The Lego Batman Movie. Unlike The Lego Batman Movie where I knew what to expect I was completely blind coming into The Lego Ninjago Movie because I knew practically nothing about this particular Lego brand.

            The basic knowledge I had of the property was it was Lego, that it was about ninjas, and they had a cartoon show on Cartoon Network. That’s all I knew so I didn’t know what to expect with this film, but seeing how they made The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie two of my favorite animated movies in recent years I figured they could surprise me with another solid movie.

            Well get ready folks, this is so far, the weakest installment of the Lego franchise, it isn’t horrible or even bad. But compared to the previous Lego movies which were so brilliantly executed and imaginative The Lego Ninjago Movie felt rehashed and at times predictable in its story and lacked the sense of wonder of its predecessors.

            Thankfully the movie makes up for its lazy story with some dazzling animation, exciting action sequences, and some funny gags and characters. Pretty much everything you would expect from a Lego movie.

            Set in the fictional world of Ninjago City where an evil warlord named Garmadon (voiced by Justin Theroux-Mulholland Drive, The Leftovers, The Girl on the Train) tries to conquer the city, a secret team of ninjas are called into action to do battle with the “Worst Guy Ever” and save Ninjago. There is one catch, the green ninja happens to be Garmadon’s son named Lloyd (voiced by Dave Franco-Superbad, 21 Jump Street, The Disaster Artist) who happens to get picked on at school all the time for being the son of the villain.

            One day during a battle with his dad Lloyd ends up accidentally summoning a terrifying beast that destroys Ninjago...a giant cat. In order to save their city and send the cat back to where it came from Lloyd and his ninja friends, Kai (voiced by Michael Peña-Ant-Man, The Martian, My Little Pony: The Movie), Jay (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani-Adventure Time, Silicon Valley, The Big Sick), Nya (voiced by Abbi Jacobson-Broad City, BoJack Horseman, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), Zane (voiced by Zach Woods-The Office, Silicon Valley, Playing House), Cole (voiced by Fred Armisen-Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The Smurfs, Portlandia), and their leader, Master Wu (voiced by Jackie Chan-The Medallion, The Forbidden Kingdom, Kung Fu Panda trilogy) must venture into the unknown and find an ancient super weapon that utilizes the ninjas’ powers within them (Kind of like a Captain Planet, Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Power Rangers type scenario).

            Overall, The Lego Ninjago Movie is a fun animated film but a step backwards from the critically acclaimed Lego Movie and Lego Batman Movie. The animation is dazzling and the way it blends with a live-action kitty is hilarious, the action is just as chaotic and exhilarating as the earlier films, and there are some funny homages to classic martial-arts movies scattered throughout the film, unfortunately the plot steps into a lot of familiar territory and at times gets predictable plus if you’ve seen both The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie then you could probably figure out what the resolution is going to be like.

            Sure, The Lego Batman Movie was a little formulaic but it satirized a very well-known character and property and I was able to get most of the references being made. I knew practically nothing about Ninjago and this didn’t really fix that because plain and simple Ninjago isn’t nearly as iconic as a character like Batman and it made sense to give him a Lego movie, not to mention if you’re not familiar with the material you probably won’t get a lot of the in-jokes and Ninjago references being made.

            But as I said before the stuff that’s good in this movie is really good, and it helps that the voice acting is just as funny as the situations happening. Dave Franco and Justin Theroux have surprisingly good chemistry as the voices of Lloyd and Garmadon and their characters’ relationship feels like a jab at Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from Star Wars except with a sense of humor and it works.

            I’m kind of all over the map on this movie but I consider it a decent addition to the Lego franchise even if it was a little underwhelming. It’s sure to be a hit with kids and might make for a fun family night out, don’t expect a Lego Movie or Lego Batman Movie but you can expect a fun movie in the Lego universe.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle review

KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE:

INSANELY FUN FOR THE MOST PART BUT UNDERWHELMING AND REHASHED IN OTHER AREAS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX

Taron Egerton is back as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Golden Circle

            Director, Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) returns to the world of Kingsman in the sequel to the 2015 action hit, Kingsman: The Secret Service based on the comic book series by Kick-Ass creator, Mark Millar and Watchmen co-creator, Dave Gibbons. At first glance Kingsman: The Secret Service sounded like a lazy cash-grab to capitalize on the success of spy films like the Bond and Bourne franchises, but little did we know we were actually getting a frantic and chaotic action movie that ended up being a blast.

            So now we have the sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle featuring Taron Egerton (Lewis, Eddie the Eagle, Sing), Colin Firth (A Single Man, The King’s Speech, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), and Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, Miss Sloane) reprising their roles as Eggsy, Harry, and Merlin. Like the first film, The Golden Circle cranks up the insane stylized action with a sophisticated edge, dark humor, and star-studded cast while expanding on the world of Kingsman and offering more bizarre homages to other spy films (When have you ever seen a Bond movie where the bad guy’s fortress is in a colorful amusement park-like setting?).

            However, the movie does fall victim to a lot of sequel trappings like trying to cram as much into the film as possible, a somewhat rehashed script, overblown CGI in action sequences, and need we forget that 141-minute runtime? Yeah, that’s a minute longer than Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and it really doesn’t need to be that long.

            After a missile destroys the Kingsman headquarters Eggsy (Egerton) and Merlin (Strong) must venture to the United States to gain the assistance of the Kingsman cousin organization known as Statesman to stop a ruthless drug lord named Poppy (Julianne Moore-Magnolia, Crazy Stupid Love, Still Alice) from poisoning the world with a virus in her drugs that causes death. Eggsy and Merlin soon discover that their old friend and mentor, Harry Hart (Firth) survived his bullet wound from Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson’s character from the first film) and is suffering from amnesia with no memory of Eggsy, Merlin, and being a Kingsman.

            With the aid of Statesman agents, Jack Daniels (Pedro Pascal-The Adjustment Bureau, Narcos, The Great Wall), Tequila (Channing Tatum-21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Logan Lucky), Ginger Ale (Halle Berry-X-Men franchise, Swordfish, Monster’s Ball), and Champ (Jeff Bridges-The Big Lebowski, Iron Man, True Grit (2010)) Eggsy and Merlin must jog Harry’s memory and save the world before the War on Drugs amplifies to bloody levels.

            The film also stars Bruce Greenwood (Double Jeopardy, Capote, Batman: Under the Red Hood) as the President of the United States, Emily Watson (Gosford Park, Punch-Drunk Love, Everest) as Chief of Staff Fox, Edward Holcroft (Vampire Academy, Wolf Hall, London Spy) as Eggsy’s rival and Poppy’s henchman, Charlie Hesketh, Hanna Alstrom (Bert, Cleo, Crimes of Passion) as Eggsy’s girlfriend, Princess Tilde, Sophie Cookson (Moonfleet, Unknown Heart, The Huntsman: Winter’s War) as Eggsy’s best friend, Roxy, Michael Gambon (Sleepy Hollow, Harry Potter franchise, Fantastic Mr. Fox) as high-ranking Kingsman official, Arthur, and a really bizarre cameo by Elton John.

            Overall, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a relentlessly fun but at times underwhelming follow-up that falls victim to sequel and spy movie cliché trappings. Plot wise there isn’t much new here, if you’ve seen the first one then you already know what to expect, a spy organization has to take down a criminal mastermind related to a New World Order.

            It’s much of the same with plot structure, but everything surrounding the plot is expanded on and offers new elements that weren’t in the first movie. I loved how the Statesman was set up as the American Kingsman and that they use things like electric cowboy lassos, whips, baseballs that are actually hand grenades, and mine-detecting baseball bats which is a very clever take on what the Kingsman arsenal is like, just add American pastimes.

            Julianne Moore does a solid job as the villain though at times she comes off as trying to be like Samuel L. Jackson from the first movie (minus the lisp thank Christ!). She looks all sweet at first (despite being a drug lord) but cross her back and she’ll do something crazy like throw you in a meat grinder or have her robot attack dogs rip you in half (Did I mention there are robot attack dogs in this movie that look like they were on-loan from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?), yeah, this movie goes from what you’d expect to completely ridiculous and crazy shit.

            Moore aside the rest of the cast is good, Egerton has definitely stepped up his game this time around and became an unexpected badass, Mark Strong still gets plenty of laughs, Colin Firth is impossible to despise no matter what he’s in and he still kicks plenty of ass as Harry, Halle Berry is good as the Statesman tech expert, and Jeff Bridges is pretty much if The Dude ate Rooster Cogburn…so he’s Jeff Bridges.

            However, I was rather disappointed by the film’s climax because it’s more of the same, two Kingsman agents battling a bunch of guards, shooting and stabbing, and really exploitive of the camera work used in the first movie. I was hoping for more screen-time with the Statesman and thought they would play a bigger role in the final showdown but they’re pushed off to the side and we get another one of those “Unexpected Villain” scenarios that probably didn’t need to happen.

            Kingsman: The Golden Circle definitely feels more like a comic book than the first film which can either be a strength or a weakness. Nevertheless, it still delivers on the crazy action sequences and fun, what else can I say but Manners Maketh Man!