TOMB RAIDER Review

The newly re-booted and freshly grounded Tomb Raider from Warner Bros. isn't necessarily bad, but it is pretty bland. There is a constant back and forth as one experiences the final product given there is real promise in what is essentially the entire first act as the viewer gets to know this younger, more inexperienced Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) and the mysteries surrounding her father's disappearance as well as the issues she has been working through as a result of such. It is when the movie goes from slyly intriguing to full-on what the target demographic expects from a Tomb Raider movie that most of the intrigue disappears and what we're left with is a series of action sequences that look like the actual video game that inspired the movie. The more reliable and realistic visual effects become the easier it will be to lean on them and while this seems to have become more and more apparent over the last few years it seems especially glaring when the source material for an effects-laden blockbuster is that of a fully digital world. Once our titular protagonist gives into the life she was always meant to have, despite who she was when trying to make a living on her own accord being more interesting, Croft is quickly swept off to Hong Kong and then to the next level, I mean act, of the movie where we continue to go through stage after stage of Croft getting closer and closer to her end goal, which in this movie, has something to do with an ancient Queen that was said to command the power over life and death. Why someone would want to seek out much less break open the tomb of an ancient spirit that was capable of killing people simply by touching them is beyond me, but that is the quest we're sent on and the tomb we're meant to raid and so that is what unfolds. Naturally, there are layers and bad guys along that way that make this journey a little more interesting or at least a little more dramatic, but it no matter how much Tomb Raider wants to feel like a fun adventure tale it is far too gritty and routine for its own good. Unlike last week's A Wrinkle in Time, which didn't necessarily work as a whole, but was at least trying to do something fresh and innovative with the material it was based on Tomb Raider instead works as a coherent whole in terms of style and tone, but does nothing with these features to accentuate them in any special or meaningful way.

First TOMB RAIDER Trailer Starring Alicia Vikander

In this day and age when every budding young actress must have a franchise of their own it kind of makes perfect sense that Alicia Vikander would go on to star in the re-boot of Tomb Raider as Lara Croft, the highly intelligent, athletic, and beautiful English archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world. As someone who doesn't play video games I never knew what the huge fuss around the games or the character was, but of course, as a fourteen year-old male in 2001 I was compelled to see what that fuss was all about when Angelina Jolie (who was twenty-six at the time!) took on the iconic role in what turned out to be a disappointing Simon West actioner in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Though it spawned one sequel, 2003's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, the franchise sputtered out of existence afterwards as neither film seemed to be able to capitalize on whatever the appeal of the video game might have been. If the Tomb Raider video game series is still around and/or relevant at all I have no idea, but apparently movie studios still believe the character is a viable investment and thus, fifteen years after the last Lara Croft film, we are getting a new Tomb Raider movie that looks to have taken the more grounded and gritty route as opposed to the flirting with every kind of CGI they can get their hands on route that every action movie in the early aughts suffered from. It is understandable, in retrospect, why everyone was so anxious to utilize this new technology, but as the dust has settled there has been found this nice balance of practical and computer effects and it seems director Roar Uthaug (The Wave) has found that balance with his take on the character while the film itself looks to be one of those origin stories that may not give us what we actually came for until the last frame of the film. I'm intrigued by the participation of credible talents such as Vikander and Walton Goggins in the role of the antagonist, but can't say much else about this clip excites me. Still, I look forward to seeing what these actors do with the material and if Uthaug can offer an interesting take on the material. Writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet is also something of a question mark as she has a laundry list of potentially big credits to her name including Captain Marvel, Sherlock Holmes 3, Gotham City Sirens, and a Dungeons & Dragons re-boot, but it seems Tomb Raider will be our first taste of what this new voice has to offer the world of cinema. Tomb Raider also stars Hannah John-Kamen, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Alexandre Willaume, Rowan Polonski, and opens on March 16, 2018.

FINDING DORY Review

It has been thirteen years since Disney and Pixar released their fifth feature length film together in Finding Nemo, a movie about a timid clownfish who set out across the ocean to try and find his son. With that film, Disney and Pixar achieved the worldwide domination that the Toy Story franchise thus far had suggested and that Monsters Inc. had more or less solidified two years earlier. With Finding Nemo the animation studio proved once and for all they were no fluke and that their originals could be just as compelling and inventive as their sequels. So now, thirteen years later, we finally have a sequel to one of the Pixar films that both could have remained a stellar single film while also (along with The Incredibles) being one of the Pixar films that audiences longed for a sequel to and would have much preferred over another Cars movie. Has the moment passed though? Even Toy Story 3 came in under the thirteen year mark, but it has now legitimately been a full generation (or two) since Finding Nemo debuted in thetaers. Of course, the answer is no as through the power of DVD's, blu-ray's and the ever-improving home theater experience children and viewers who were once children who now have their own children will continue to watch their favorite Disney and Pixar films no matter how much time passes. I will certainly show my child the magic of Finding Nemo once she's emotionally ready for those first ten minutes, but the point is to say that it was never going to be too late for Finding Dory and more than anything most audiences will be happy to know it's finally here. And so, with that said and with all of that to live up to, how is the actual film? In short, it is perfectly capable. It is extremely sweet and cute in all the right ways. The flashbacks to Dory as a baby with her parents (voiced by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy) teaching her how to cope with her short term memory loss will absolutely make a puddle out of any viewer with a heart. Finding Dory also succeeds in not being a carbon copy of the original and offers a fair amount of new characters that are also fun, sweet, and cute. As the film draws to its close though, it becomes clear Dory will pack none of the emotional heft that many of the best Pixar films do. While there are certainly moments of great weight and substance in Dory's quest to locate where she came from the overall arc of the film never latches onto a specific idea or theme in a way that through the films execution comes to feel profound. Instead, Finding Dory is a fun, beautifully animated diversion and sometimes that is just good enough.

MONEY MONSTER Review

We may all be created equal, but we are certainly not all born into the same circumstances. In order for our system to work the way it is designed to things must remain this way. People must continue to fail or slip through the cracks of said system so that we not only have opportunities for exceptionally driven individuals to thrive, but also for those who are unable to make it past being the breakfast manager at McDonald's. We are all created equal, but it's what we do with that equality and the opportunity this state of mind affords us no matter how many advantages or disadvantages we 're born into. It is in this idea of equality that Jodie Foster seems to find an in to this story cobbled together by three screenwriters that seemingly wants to be about something, but in the end is more a slight encapsulation of the time we're living in than a piece of art that reflects or examines the time that has spawned it. Money Monster is Foster's fourth directorial feature and undoubtedly her biggest film to date, but it is this bigger feel, this corporate mandated aesthetic and approach that hinders more than helps in whatever Foster's actual objective might be. And so, it begins by Foster and her team of screenwriters (including Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore, and Jim Kouf) looking at how the little man might take on the privileged and exploring equality from that perspective, but as we come to learn more details about the situation and the plot becomes more clear in that it is going to blame the downfall that was the catalyst for the outrageous (but not unbelievable) actions of one of our main characters on a single bad guy who did a single bad thing instead of making this an amalgamation of bad choices and ethically wrong dealings there is a hint that it might become more about equality in the sense of taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions whatever they may be no matter where we fall in society's class system. Had Money Monster delved more into an idea Dominic West's character spouts near the end of the film and come to something of a less pleasant conclusion, but a more realistic one I imagine the film might have struck more of a nerve, but as it is and as it goes Money Monster is simply a neat little thriller that is consistently entertaining.

New Trailer for FINDING DORY

As the summer movie season draws closer Disney and Pixar have decided to share a little more of their follow-up to the massively successful Finding Nemo. Nemo was Pixar at the height of its critical and commercial power and so it is no surprise that as the companies have become more comfortable with the idea of sequels that twelve years down the road we have a sequel to one of their biggest hits. While the teaser we received back in November was exactly that what we have now is a full fledged look into what the story of the film might be as well as being introduced to a few new characters. Pictured above are two of those new characters with Kaitlin Olsen's Destiny (the shark) being highlighted as a childhood friend of Dory's in the trailer. Catch the name? Hint hint. It has admittedly been a while since I've seen the original film and will definitely have to be re-visiting it before seeing this Dory-centric sequel, but this trailer certainly gives off the general vibe I remember from the original with Albert Brooks returning as Marlin and Hayden Rolence taking over as Nemo. We'll be getting Toy Story 4 soon, a sequel to The Incredibles (finally!) and another Cars film (why? WHY?!?!) as well as some original films that hopefully continue to ride the wave of creativity Inside Out created last summer over the next few years, but this summer is all about Finding Dory and, if nothing else, the trailer plays off the indisputable charms of the titular blue tang fish. Ellen DeGeneres returns as the voice of Dory with Michael Sheen, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Ed O’Neill, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Willem Dafoe, and Ty Burrell also starring. Finding Dory opens on June 17, 2016.

First Trailer for MONEY MONSTER Starring George Clooney & Julia Roberts

For years now Geroge Clooney has been attempting to reinvigorate the genre that has kind of graciously been labeled "movies for grown-ups" with the likes of Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, The American, The Ides of March, The Descendants, and even The Monuments Men. Sure, he's thrown in a few guarantees like Gravity and the what seemed to be a home run in Tomorrowland, but he largely likes to star in, produce, and direct films made explicitly for the more mature crowds. With the release of a new Hail, Caesar! trailer yesterday and the films February fifth release date looming it is no wonder we now have a trailer for Clooney's other offering this year. Re-teaming with Oceans Eleven co-star Julia Roberts (who's been doing her part for grown-up movies as well with last years average, but still underrated Secret in Their Eyes) the two have taken the leads in the latest directorial effort from Jodie Foster (yeah, this thing would have been huge in '96). The film follows Clooney's Lee Gates, a TV personality whose insider tips have made him the money guru of Wall Street. Things get tricky when Kyle (Jack O'Connell of Unbroken) holds Lee and his entire show hostage on air threatening to kill Lee if he does not get the stock up 24 and a half points before the bell. Naturally, Lee's ratings soar as the entire country tunes into the media frenzy while at the same time shedding light on a possible scandal involving the company in question. The story is timely, the performers are top notch, and Foster while coming off a rather shaky previous feature has done enough work in TV lately that having her at the helm inspires more confidence than doubt. Needless to say that while the trailer doesn't do much for me stylistically there is too much promise to not be excited. Money Monster also stars Giancarlo Esposito, Dominic West, Jack O'Connell, Caitriona Balfe, Greta Lee, Emily Meade, Chris Bauer, Condola Rashad, Olivia Luccardi, and opens on May 13, 2016.

Teaser Trailer for FINDING DORY

The team of Disney and Pixar have had some massive hits, but their biggest in terms of initial box office and adjusted for inflation grosses outside of Toy Story 3 is that of Finding Nemo. It was kind of an odd pick as the story is simple: father searches for lost son. And the appeal was simply the branding of what the studio had delivered previously. Nemo was Pixar at the height of it's critical and commercial power-a kind of culmination if you will. It didn't hurt that the quality of the movie was nothing short of excellent. Twelve years down the road and Pixar has experienced something of a rough patch with originals like Brave not stroking the critical fire as highly as expected and sequels like Cars 2 (why? WHY?!?!) and Monsters University (I really enjoy this one, regardless) doing more or less what people expect if nothing more. And so, while Pixar is certainly on something of an upswing after this summer's smash Inside Out and looks to have another hit on their hands with The Good Dinosaur this Thanksgiving there is nothing better than a safe bet and thus why we are now getting a peak at a sequel that was apparently warranted after thirteen years. We'll be getting another Toy Story feature, a sequel to The Incredibles and another Cars film (why? WHY?!?!) as well as some original sprinkled in there somewhere over the next few years, but today is about Finding Dory and, if nothing else, the trailer plays off the charms of the original's three leading characters in hopes audiences will remember how much they loved Marlin, Nemo and of course Dory to the point they're willing to spend a whole lot of money on them next summer. Ellen DeGeneres returns as the voice of Dory with Albert Brooks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Ed O’Neill, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Kaitlin Olsen, Willem Dafoe, and Ty Burrell also starring. Finding Dory opens on June 17, 2016.