Actors Gotta Act..."Collide"

Collide (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley

Directed by Eran Creevy

The Story:

Casey (Hoult) loves Juliette (Jones) so very much, that when she needs a medical procedure, he turns back to his old way of life as a driver for drug runner Geran (Kingsley). However, Geran let's Casey know that the real money would be if they could hit the supplier, respected businessman Hagen Kahl (Hopkins). And then the real fun begins!

Sadly, that is a very true statement.

The movie opens with a terrific chase and crash, and then goes back to fill us in on the narrative of how we wound up at the opening.

And it's 10 minutes of Hoult and Jones saying "I love you...no, I love you...I love you more..."

Cue the fast forward button.

I was tempted to take the movie out, I mean clearly this is a budget film, no harm no foul; Kingsley and Hopkins are just collecting their paychecks.

Then I began to realize that I'm not very fond of Felicity Jones as an actress. Granted, I've not seen her in much, but she's yet to stand out to me as a great actress I look forward to seeing in a movie.

She was okay in Rogue One, but her supporting characters were infinitely more interesting.

And as the mum in A Monster Calls... ugh...so pathetic and sad as a character, I really didn't care that her character was going to die by the time the movie ended.

See?

The mind wanders when the movie creates boredom.

And I pause the fast forwarding and watch Hopkins and Kingsley interact for possibly the first time ever together on screen, and it's pretty interesting. They both try and dial their characters up to 11, especially Kingsley who seems to be channeling his Mandarin from Iron Man. :)

Which leads us to the 45 minute-ish mark.

That's when things get interesting as the movie veers back to the action caper the opening so promised us.

And yes, it delivers quite well on the back half of the movie.

So I'm torn on a grade for a film.

I mean, dismal start, I actually fast forward past the 20 minute mark that I set for myself just to see if the movie had any potential on the other side, while other movies get yanked out of the player and returned to Netflix without the same courtesy.

I'm nothing if not a movie hypocrite sometimes.

So we'll grade fair, and say terrible first half, pretty good second half...

Final Grade: D+

Can't Wait For the Sequel..."Rogue One"

Rogue One (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen,

Directed by Gareth Edwards

The Story:

Galen Erso (Mikkelsen) is an engineer brought back by force to the Empire to continue building an elaborate weapon known as the "Death Star". His daughter, Jyn (Jones) is sent into hiding. As the years pass, she ends up tangling with members of the Rebellion. Their hope is that sending a group of mercenaries to steal plans for the weapon, they have a chance of destroying it, and defeating the Empire.

May the Force be with them.

Well, if you're going to tell a prequel to Star Wars about how the Rebel Alliance stole the plans for the Death Star, this is about the best movie you could hope for.

A great assemblage of new characters that by the time...

Spoiler Alert...

They all die...

You'll be sad and wish most of them would have been spared somehow and could come back in future, past installments.

But alas...

You know it's not possible because you've already seen Star Wars.

Standout favorites from Jyn's supporting team include Cassian Andor (Luna) as this film's scoundrel; K-2SO (Tudyk) as the reprogrammed Empirical droid with a sarcastic bent; and Chirrut Imwe (Yen) the coolest addition to the Star Wars mythos since the original series premiered.

And speaking of the original series...

Yes, I'm going to nitpick and say that I did indeed miss the opening crawl of the Star Wars saga.

It's part of what gives the whole saga an interlocked feel, and by keeping that opening, just drop the "Episode #" if nothing else, I think it would have added to the film, especially since they throw the bone of "A Long Time Ago..." at the beginning.

Also missing, John Williams score.

It's amazing how much that music influences the series, and little bits of it pop up here and there as appropriate, but it's quite unfair to hold any other composers to the John Williams standard...

But this is Star Wars we're talking about, prequel or not.

Final Grade: B

You're No Groot! "A Monster Calls"

A Monster Calls (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Lewis MacDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Liam Neeson,

Directed by J.A. Bayona

The Story:

Conor (MacDougall) is caring for his terminally ill mum (Jones) when a giant tree monster (Neeson) comes calling on him. He demands that Conor do the one thing he cannot do...tell the truth. The monster will then share some stories with Conor that will teach him valuable life lessons.

Of course by the 30 minute mark, I being the heartless monster that I am was so bored to tears by this movie I took it out and mailed it back to Netflix.

Blasphemy, I know.

This is yet the latest festival darling, well-regarded film that I absolutely didn't care for.

Conor's mom is going to die. He despises that his grandmother (Weaver) is there, because that's sealing the deal.

And the monster will help Conor face the pain and reality of what is about to happen.

Yeah, I get it.

I made it through the first animated story that the monster tells, and I found myself just really not caring.

Saved an hour of my life, and undoubtedly needing Kleenex to wipe away the tears they were going to bring about in the final act if I finally started caring about the characters.

I'll go see about watching Rogue One instead, that way I can make sure I see Felicity Jones die in that one instead.

:)

Final Grade: D

If You Smell...What Tom Hanks...Is Cooking! "Inferno"

Inferno (2016)  

Rated PG-13

Starring Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Ben Foster, Ana Ularu

Directed by Ron Howard

The Story:

Symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) awakes in a hospital with no memory of how he got there. As Dr. Brooks (Jones) helps to try and piece some of the missing pieces of what happened back, someone attempts to kill Langdon. They escape, and begin a whirlwind world tour trying to stay one step of the people trying to kill Langdon while attempting to solve a puzzle left behind from a zealot billionaire (Foster) who has devised a virus that will render the majority of the world's population extinct.

Well, I guess I was wrong about reviewing the last of the 2016 sequels to long-dormant franchises a few weeks back.

THIS is the last one.

I'm almost sure of it.

:)

So if  you remember The Da Vinci Code from way back in 2006, or Angels and Demons from 2009, then you are already familiar with the character played by Hanks and what he does.

However if you never saw those films, or like me, vaguely remember seeing them back in the day, and that's really your only recollection of the films, then you'll probably still be okay.

On its own, it's a slick thriller with competent direction by the always reliable Ron Howard.

This time, instead of direct involvement with the church and overtly religious tones, it's dialed back a bit as the mystery centers on the works of the poet Dante and his work: Inferno.

Add a touch of the modern spy thriller, and you have a film that is going to do the best it can to keep you guessing at what happens next, who you can trust, and what it all means.

Naturally, some things work better than others, but the film is filled with enough interesting characters and a pretty talented cast from top to bottom that they make all of the characters have a three dimensional feeling and they aren't just cardboard caricatures helping to prop up the movie.

I'm not sure if there will be another film in the series, but I doubt they'll want to wait another decade if they decide to continue the films. Hanks and Howard aren't getting any younger.

It's quite likely that instead we'll be treated to a cinematic reboot, and that means that most likely Chris Pine will be taking over the role in the next outing.

: )

Final Grade: B-