THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE Review

Well, the time has come, but admittedly, it came a little quicker than I thought it might. The LEGO Movie brand has seemingly run out of gas in what is no doubt only its first act. Though it was just in February of this year that it seemed it was the LEGO brand, behind Marvel of course, that was having the most success in carving their own path out of a recognizable brand things have quickly changed with the rise of Wonder Woman and the misstep that is The LEGO Ninjago Movie. After blowing all expectations out of the water with The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, 21 & 22 Jump Street) set not only a precedent for any sequels and spin-offs that might come in the wake of their success, but they also set a very specific tone that has now served as the signature trait of that initial film, The LEGO Batman Movie from earlier this year, and now Ninjago as it attempts to be just as irreverent as its predecessors. Ninjago is different though in that, while the first film had the brand as a whole to market and LEGO Batman obviously had Batman as a marketing tool, Ninjago is a specific line of toys from the Lego brand that has made its way into a television show and now a feature film. The point being that, because it has narrowed the brand down into such a specific line of toys it has narrowed the appeal as well. That isn't to say that just because Ninjago isn't as immediately recognizable or notable as the brand's previous outings that it immediately carries less weight, but rather that it has more to prove to more people. The LEGO Movie itself had a lot to prove, but surprised everyone when it was able to balance its great sense of humor with real heart while Ninjago more or less seems to be piggybacking off that style rather than coming up with a unique voice of its own through which to convey its movie. It was always going to be curious how Warner Bros. Animation went forward with the Lego universe in terms of each of the films sharing a similar tone or if they would divert according to the toy line and/or type of story they were telling, but with Batman and now Ninjago it is pretty clear each "LEGO Movie" will follow suit in the self-aware and spoof-like nature of that original outing. While this isn't the worst thing in the world it already feels somewhat tired three films in and though the movie's trio of directors who have plenty of experience between them have done well to follow the precedent set by other Lego pictures they have done little to help Ninjago stand enough apart from them for it to be memorable.

MAGIC MIKE XXL Review

In the summer of 2012 the idea of Magic Mike seemed little more than a way for the studio and Channing Tatum himself to push his celebrity and sex appeal even further than The Vow and 21 Jump Street already had that year. When the film ended up having a $40 million opening weekend with only a budget of $7m it was clear Tatum was no longer just an added-value element, but something of a movie star in his own generations right. This was a film with no previous film in the franchise, no brand recognition, no book or memoir it was based off of, but instead was solely the product of Tatum sitting down with writer Reid Carolin and hashing out a story around his early days as a male stripper. Billed as a film for the ladies, Magic Mike actually turned out to be something of a heavy handed dramatic piece as directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, the Ocean trilogy) that wasn't exactly what the target audience expected. There was still plenty of dancing and grinding and a whole bunch of humping, but beyond this the film examined the social stigmas of such a career choice and the difficult task of leaving that kind of a life behind despite someone only being able to last in that lifestyle for a small window of time in their life. This latter part is where the sequel, Magic Mike XXL, picks up and more or less runs with the idea of knowing this won't last forever so let's give it one last hurrah. There aren't as many deeper themes going on here, in fact there isn't really much going on at all other than the goal of having a good time and in that regard, the Kings of Tampa succeed. Magic Mike XXL is not the same kind of film its predecessor was, but this sequel doesn't attempt to be that kind of film either. Instead, XXL is its own beast entirely and while that may, on the surface, make it less of an artistic success than the first this exclusively fun, road trip movie turns out be just as good and just as insanely stylistic because it never loses sight of what makes these movies tick: the characters.

New Trailer for MAGIC MIKE XXL

Well, here we are again. In what feels like one of the more crowded summers over the last few years it will be interesting to see how this sequel to Magic Mike plays out. The first film opened three years ago at what was arguably the climax (pun intended) of Tatum's rise to fame. It had been a slow build until 2012 when he hit audiences with a three-way (pun intended) blitz of The Vow, 21 Jump Street and then Magic Mike in the summer. He was not only competing against a summer with another Avengers and Ted (which opened against Magic Mike then and will open a week before the sequel this year), but it opened a mere week before The Amazing Spider-Man and just less than a month before The Dark Knight Rises. Granted, it didn't have much competition throughout July besides the two aforementioned tentpoles, but Magic Mike thrived because it spoke to a different audience, a female audience. In the end, Tatum's take on the average working man cloaked in stripper routines debuted to a healthy $39 million and went on to claim $167 million globally. Coupled with the fact the first film was made for $7 million this really shows the power of star plus concept. Tatum has only become a bigger star since and arguably a more credible one which I only assume will boost this sequels prospects given it looks more in line with what women wanted from the first film anyway. With Warner Bros. placing Magic Mike XXL on the coveted fourth of July weekend with its only competition that weekend being the Terminator reboot it seems XXL will again fill the alternate programming slot all the way through to at least the 17th when Judd Apatow's Trainwreck opens. Beside Tatum, Magic Mike XXL also stars Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, Donald Glover, Andie MacDowell, Michael Strahan and hits theaters on July 1st.

First Trailer for MAGIC MIKE XXL

Well, here we are. In a world not only where Channing Tatum has become something of a formidable actor, but one where his original hit dance movie has spawned four sequels and now his second hit dance movie is getting a sequel as well. Granted, that second dance movie concerned a more specific set of skills and was more of a passion project for the actor as well as featuring THE performance from Matthew McConaughey that signaled his complete one-eighty-it is with anticipation we awaited what Tatum and collaborator Steven Soderbergh have come up with for this second time around. Though Soderbergh only acted as cinematographer this time as directing duties went to Greg Jacobs (who has served as second unit on countless Soderbergh flicks) Tatum again penned the script with Reid Carolin who he also wrote the original film with. While I enjoyed that the first film didn't deliver exactly what everyone expected, this second trailer certainly plays up that same angle so as to pull in the "girls night out" crowds. It will be interesting to see if the ladies still flock to this one knowing how the first turned out, which was good for the rest of us, but maybe they were fine with what dancing and grinding they did see to the point there is no question about attending a sequel. Heavily bumping Ginuwine's "Pony," and putting all their eggs in the confident and cocky basket, Magic Mike XXL is looking to have a massive fourth of July weekend even without the McConaughey returning. Magic Mike XXL also stars Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, Donald Glover, Andie MacDowell, Michael Strahan and hits theaters on July 1st.