SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Review

Sonic the Hedgehog is the kind of straight-down-the-middle piece of live-action family entertainment that we just don’t get as often as kids fed on this particular genre in the nineties were once accustomed to. At a certain point in time, it seemed as if audiences on the verge of puberty, but not quite there, were delivered a sports-themed adventure or underdog story featuring kids their own age on an annual basis-whether it was The Sandlot, The Little Giants, The Mighty Ducks, The Big Green, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court or Angel’s in the Outfield-the point is there were plenty of options not only for the youngest of youngsters, but for tweens before people even knew what tweens were. Lately though (and when I say lately I mean the last twenty-five years or so lately) that demographic has been lumped in with the more sophisticated audiences required to digest the lofty animated expectations of studios such as Pixar. That said, having never been a fan or player of Sonic the Hedgehog there was no real emotional or nostalgic connection to the original Sega property or its many animated incarnations over the years. As a live-action adaptation of a popular nineties video game is the closest we get to any of those aforementioned titles these days though, director Jeff Fowler’s feature directorial debut then fills the nostalgic void left by the absence of such titles by default. Fowler and/or Paramount Pictures seems to have known this to be the case thus their main objective becoming to not only entertain the kiddos of today with an updated take on a character they might have seen an episode of or played a game with at one time or another, but also to hone in on the same fan base that threw a fit when the first, original trailer for the film was released and the design of the titular character garnered such backlash that the studio delayed the release of the film and re-designed its CGI star completely. That is to say, not only did Paramount realize there was a large fan base for this property, but a passionate one as well and one that was not only anxious to see a childhood favorite get the live-action treatment, but to re-capture the feelings this character inspired and to re-live this time in their lives that Sonic represents. To this extent, Paramount went the extra mile and hired Jim Carrey to play the role of the antagonist in the evil Dr. Robotnik. This isn’t the Jim Carrey of Mr. Popper's Penguins or even Yes Man though, no, this is the Jim Carrey of The Mask or Ace Ventura as the fifty-eight year-old pulls off his most physically comedic role in what feels like forever to what I can only imagine is the pure joy and delight of thirty year-olds everywhere. It is this combination of Carrey playing the hits combined with the genre re-vamping that leads to Sonic the Hedgehog being as appealing as it ends up being, for despite not having any nostalgic connections to the character itself, these elements make up for this as Fowler’s film more or less accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish and will satisfy any resident of the 16-bit gaming era while still not mustering enough excitement to write home about it…and if I remember anything about The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog from my Saturday morning binges in 1993 that feels about par for the course.

First Trailer for SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

The first trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been released and well...it's actually a movie. The film, based on the video game franchise first released in 1991 and originally conceived by Sega to replace Alex Kidd to compete with Nintendo's Mario as their main mascot, the game went on to become uber-successful spawning many sequels and helping define Sega as one of the leading video game companies during the golden 16-bit era. Like other video games of this heyday, Sonic has crossed many platforms and animated series, comic books, and no doubt countless other media adaptations, but never has the character had its own feature film production...until now. In a move that feels like it's being made twenty or maybe even twenty-five years too late, Paramount has decided to follow suit per Warner Bros. new Pokemon movie and give birth to beloved video game character in the real world where they look like real animals and function as members of our present society. Enough about how everything about this film seems to be working against it though, as the screenplay from Patrick Casey and Josh Miller (a duo with nothing but what seem to National Lampoon knock-offs on their resume) is being directed by Jeff Fowler (making his feature debut after having served in the visual effect dept. on Where the Wild Things Are) with the story following Sonic (voice of Ben Schwartz) as he tries to save the world alongside human pal, Tom (James Marsden), to stop the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). While the involvement of someone like Carrey in a role that is literally a cartoon come to life is enough to be intriguing the film otherwise doesn't look to be doing anything outside of what that string of "live-action" Alvin and the Chipmunks films did a few years back. I imagine Sonic is about as hot right now as the Chipmunks were in 2007, but at least they had a Christmas special to bank on. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out and if the quality of the film can actually rise above the inherent cynicism that comes with its existence at the moment. Sonic the Hedgehog also stars Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Neal McDonough, Adam Pally, and opens on November 8th, 2019.

NIGHT SCHOOL Review

At this point I question if there’s even a point to me sitting down and taking time out of my day to write a review of a new Kevin Hart movie. I mean, unless Hart decides to work outside his comfort zone with a director that might challenge him or unless he’s part of an ensemble cast one pretty much knows what they’re getting from a Kevin Hart comedy, right? Given Night School is the first production to be released under Hart’s own production company though one can safely assume that if this is successful-which all signs point to why wouldn’t it be?-that the general viewing public can expect more of this same, middle-of-the-road comedy with recycled premises and recycled jokes that hold Hart at the center as a character who must overcome something in order to realize something about himself...while being made fun of for being short, of course. That said, I appreciate and kind of admire Hart for always willing to be the brunt of the joke and despite Night School being a rather large missed opportunity given it pairs the immensely charming and infinitely likable Hart with Girls Trip breakout Tiffany Haddish and her director on that film, Malcolm D. Lee (who’s also made The Best Man films and the most recent Barbershop picture), there is still enough here for it to qualify as an entertaining enough time at the movies. No, that’s not necessarily a ringing endorsement, but it does mean this doesn’t feel wholly like a cheap, quickly manufactured product with little effort put in and therefore little expectations held for it. In fact, it’s actually the opposite in that it’s not hard to see Hart, his co-stars, and his company are genuinely trying to make something with, well...heart. Does this mean it actually holds some weight? Not really and it isn’t as consistently funny enough given the stars of the film, but this is a rare comedy that doesn’t have an ugly side to it. It’s an optimistic comedy, if you will, whereas the majority of big studio comedies tend to be both cynical and egotistical Night School sets itself apart from the pack if not for being the funniest of the year, but for holding out the most hope in humanity and seeing the good in the resilience of the human spirit. Not exactly an easy thing to do these days.

First Trailer for NIGHT SCHOOL Starring Kevin Hart & Tiffany Haddish

It comes as no surprise that just over a year after Tiffany Haddish was welcomed into Hollywood with more enthusiasm than anyone since J-Law six years ago that she would be headlining a comedy with Kevin Hart set to premiere in the typically dry time between the summer movie season and awards season where it will undoubtedly make all the money. Night School, an out and out comedy about a group of troublemakers, including Hart's character, who are forced to attend night school in hopes of obtaining their GEDs, pits Hart as a successful business owner who has nowhere to turn after he loses said business in an accidental fire against Haddish. This will seemingly build a love/hate relationship with Hart's student as he was hoping to skate by in acquiring the few credits he was missing for his GED while Haddish's character, well, it's kind of unclear where she falls at the moment as she is initially indifferent towards the night school gig, but as a full-time teacher seems to have a fun rapport with everyone else at the school including Taran Killam's principal who defaults to using "black voice" when in the company of Hart and Haddish. It's a funny running gag in the trailer and I'm curious as to whether this will come out as PG-13 or R as I would have assumed it to be the latter, but this first look gives the impression Universal might prefer to play it safe and capitalize off the pairing of its two stars with as wide an audience as possible. Girls Trip director Malcolm D. Lee (who also made both Best Man films) is at the helm here as well and while his full filmography would suggest a spotty track record his most recent works including Best Man Holiday, the third Barbershop film, and last summer's massive aforementioned comedy that made Haddish a household name have leaned toward the better end of the spectrum than the other. While Lee's latest certainly doesn't look like anything that will break the mold it definitely has the components and credentials to make me excited at the prospect of it. Night School also stars Ben Schwartz, Rob Riggle, Keith David, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Anne Winters, Jacob Batalon, Mason Guccione and Romany Malco and opens in theaters on September 28th.

THE WALK Review

Man on Wire is the Academy Award winning documentary from 2008 that preceded this dramatization of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. What made the documentary such a critical success and one of the more all-around entertaining documentaries ever made was largely due to two factors-1) Petit himself and 2) the heist-like nature required to pull the stunt off.  Petit is a character who needs no exaggeration. To watch him describe his mentality and desires in the documentary was to paint so vivid a picture that re-enactments were never needed. There was also a surplus of photos and footage from around Petit and his accomplices planning and executing this rather risky gamble to fulfill one man's crazy dream that filled in the gaps when Petit wasn't acting out his recollections. So, the question is why would anyone want and more importantly why does anyone need another version of a story that has already been told in a magnificent (and no doubt more honest) way? The documentary was filled with drama and tension so why dramatize it further only to restrict it to a narrative structure that would likely end up making the distressing story rather passionless. There seems to be no definitive answer as to why this new interpretation was necessary within director Robert Zemeckis' film, but strangely it seems to make perfect sense given the man behind this particular vision. Zemeckis has always been a filmmaker who likes to push the envelope when it comes to technology and trying things other filmmakers wouldn't dare attempt (see Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cast Away, The Polar Express). In Petit's story the director has found an inherently dramatic, fun and literally breathtaking tale that perfectly accommodates the type of innovative filmmaking methods he likes to march out and test on his audiences. And so, while The Walk may not be a movie we all needed, that certainly doesn't make it one worth ignoring. In fact, it's rather invigorating once it gets going.

Full Trailer for THE WALK Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Upon seeing the initial teaser trailer for Robert Zemeckis’ latest endeavor late last year I wasn't too excited for what it was promoting. The story of Philippe Petit had already been documented in the critically acclaimed documentary Man On Wire and it seemed unlikely that Zemeckis’ film would be able to match that acclaim or even what made the documentary so fascinating and that's not even taking into consideration that a dramatized version of these events hardly seems necessary. Still, the narrative film is coming and it has Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the lead so it will inevitably be discussed, but what I can't tell is if this movie wants to be more of an Oscar-contender or if it simply wants to be an exhilirating thrill ride that really capitalizes on the IMAX and 3D aspects of its production. The marketing is certainly driving this angle home, but this second, full trailer for the film also highlights the heist-type aspects of the film given Petit and his crew were not allowed to go to the top of the twin towers, string a wire between them and attempt to tightrope walk between them. The trailer is much better than what I would have initially expected from the film and the fact this trailer came with the announcement that this will be the opening night film at the New York Film Festival this year only makes me all the more curious. I wish we didn't live in a culture where we had to think of films simply as Oscar-type films and those for pure entertainment, but we typically do. Maybe The Walk can break that frame of mind. The film also stars Charlotte Le Bon, Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz, Clément Sibony, César Domboy and opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on October 2nd.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU Review

Director Shawn Levy's This is Where I Leave You is a film elevated wholly by the talent of the cast involved and the stock they decide to put in their characters. To that point it would seem that the material is the weak point here, but that isn't apparent until the last act of the film when the amount of drama and issues incorporated into one family becomes too much to the point of inauthentic. We can only buy into so much drama before it all seems to become a little too convenient to make certain points. That said, this is a film nowhere near as hokey (in both its sentimentality and contrivances) as it made itself out to be in the trailers. Levy is a more than capable filmmaker who has shown time and time again he has an aptitude for crafting features the entire family can easily enjoy (junk food movies to a certain extent) so why not turn the tables on himself and make an honest, R-rated movie about those he so often entertains? I don't know if that was the directors intent or if he just loved the Jonathan Tropper novel this is based on, but either way he has put together something that both older family members will likely enjoy and be able to relate to. This is Where I Leave You is a film that is at least willing to find the comedy in every situation, the laughs that would naturally be thought of as inappropriate are appreciated thus making the family at the center all the more endearing despite the mountain of baggage each member brings to the table. It is a film made more fun and more enjoyable by those you share in the experience with as I'm sure it is more affecting when seen with siblings or parents than it would be with a group of friends. There is little in the way of outside influence sans significant others as this is a story fully focused on the family unit and how the dynamics between different individuals of different status within that unit relate to one another and mean a certain extent to one another depending on the situation. It brings to the surface not just the comedy of "the friends you can't choose" scenario, but also the intricacies of how these relationships differ which is interesting. While not being a completely genuine or necessarily heartfelt piece, it is a melodrama of the more credible degree mostly because we like the people playing the people we're watching.

TURBO Review

Turbo is a completely complacent piece of entertainment. There isn't anything particularly intriguing about the film and there is absolutely nothing that might offend or cause someone not to enjoy it. In fact, the viewing experience I had was one of initially low expectations that were met with a sense of pure ease and joy that radiated off the screen and into the creative juices the film had flowing allowing for it all to be very colorful, very fun, but most importantly, entertaining. It held the children's attention, it never slowed for too long and it didn't take any detours in getting where it wanted to go. There is a very basic, straightforward plot, a message that is easy to understand and characters that are completely endearing while being both supporters and detractors to our titular heroes dreams. It is tough to come up with much to say about a film so middle of the road that you find neither anything spectacular to love about it or insulting enough to hate. I guess there could be some magic in that, in the fact that parents can take their kids to the movies and have a fun enough time themselves while not having to worry about whether or not the kids will actually stay in their seats and remain entertained, but as far as quality of the overall film goes, whether it has anything profound to say or not, or whether it will stand as a classic of the genre it fits so comfortably into, that is where the film fails to meet any real standards. Still, the fact of the matter is the makers of Turbo likely weren't shooting for any such standards, but instead had the humble aspirations of making a fun, entertaining ride with a positive message that informed kids no matter how small they are that their big dreams were worth going after and could indeed be accomplished. I applauded Monsters University earlier this summer for taking the road less traveled in preaching life lessons to its young audiences, but while Turbo chooses to go the road most traveled in pretty much every aspect it likely won't stand a chance of rising above other animated films in a summer so saturated with minions and monsters. I liked Turbo well enough and I'm sure plenty of kiddos will see it and feel the same way, but I doubt any of them will take much away from it.

First Trailer for RUNNER, RUNNER

When your movie has two guys in peak form at the top of their careers with a director whose last film began the rejuvenation that is now informing Matthew McConaughey's career there will naturally be interest in the film and those things, more than anything are what intrigue me about Brad Furman's (The Lincoln Lawyer) latest Runner, Runner. I said last week with the premiere of the Prisoners trailer that September, as it has the past few years, continues to stack up a pretty impressive line of films where we are usually given Hollywood's leftovers. Go ahead and add this one to the list because despite the fact that it looks rather generic and chummy, it has Ben Affleck (fresh off Argo winning best picture and many in the industry sympathetic for him after not being nominated for best director) chewing serious scenery and hamming it up while Justin Timberlake (at the height of his musical game having the biggest selling album of 2013 so far) gives the dramatic material another go. I didn't bother to finish Trouble With the Curve last fall, but I liked In Time well enough that despite the fact Timberlake is a better comedian he might still have range enough for more serious roles. What helps this trailer from coming off as nothing more than a generic 90's movie rip-off is the fact that the directors previous work was a finely tuned dramatic thriller that had a nice gritty tone to go along with it and this film seems to be very much in the same vein. Affleck likely won't be winning any more Oscars for this one, but it will be a fun, distracting time at the movies with what will hopefully be re-enforcement to how gifted an actor Affleck still is along with his directing skills. I like everyone involved here and I'm hoping for the best so I'm certainly looking forward to the film. Runner, Runner also stars Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, Ben Schwartz, Dayo Okeniyi, Oliver Cooper and opens September 27th. Hit the jump to check out the trailer.