I Had Almost Forgotten The First One..."The Huntsman: Winter's War"

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost,

Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

The Story:

A sequel and a prequel, all in one. This tells the story of Eric (Hemsworth) growing up under the "care" of Queen Freya (Blunt). His affection towards Sara (Chastain) caused him to be removed from the kingdom, and you know what happened next if you saw Snow White & the Huntsman. The rest of the movie shows Eric on the search for the Magic Mirror before it can be used to bring Ravenna (Theron) back to life.

First, they did the best thing by not bringing Kristen Stewart back for the sequel.

She was my least favorite part of the original, and she is definitely not missed.

:)

The new additions to the cast are enjoyable, but it's almost like they couldn't decide if they wanted to tell a prequel or a sequel.

Splitting time between both gives you enough storyline bouncing back and forth to make for one movie, but it seems a little less coherent that way.

At times there was almost too much plot going on with attempted plot twists and turns seemingly around every corner.

The cast is game though, and the movie looks great.

But at the end of the day, it's just an average movie, and doesn't inspire any reason to rush out to see it.

Final Grade: C

"Unfinished Business" Is An 'Uneven Movie'

Unfinished Business (2015)

Rated R

Starring Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, Nick Frost, James Marsden

Directed by Ken Scott

The Story:

Dan (Vaughn) has had it with his current company. He quits and tries a Jerry Maguire speech to bring his co-workers with him. Tim (Wilkinson) and Mike (Franco) are the only two that jump in with him. Time passes, and they have one final "Hail Mary" to save their business from going under, but involves a business trip to Europe to land a deal with Mr. Spinch (Marsden). They assume it's a lock, until they realize their old employer is there to close the same deal.

Tucked in this movie was a good story with some funny characters.

They emerge every so often as the film moves along.

They also get buried in a lot of "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" moments that really do nothing except padding the runtime of the film.

It loses focus often for the sake of the gag, and the gags rarely help the overall momentum of the film. Instead it seems like a lot of pieces that are cobbled together to frame a story from beginning to end, but it's a bumpy, jarring ride to get there.

Are there funny moments? Absolutely, but they often are isolated and alone and rarely strung together.

Vaughn's attempt to help his daughter's homework project seems like a weird narrative device to shoehorn his home life into the work story.

That said, the final product that she turns in is very heartwarming and something most dads should relate to.

It's got some genuine amusement, and a fantastic cast, but just too scattershot to be worth ever revisiting.

Final Grade: C

Time To Spice Up Your Salsa... "Cuban Fury"

Cuban Fury (2014)

Rated R for language

Starring Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O'Dowd, Ian McShane

Directed by James Griffiths

The Story:

Ben Radcliffe (Frost) is a young teen who loves to Salsa Dance.  His competitive dance skills are blossoming under the tutelage of teacher Ron Parfitt (McShane) but on the night of the finals, Ben is bullied, beaten and leaves his passion behind.  Decades later, an out-of-shape Ben has all but forgotten Salsa dancing, but when he meets his new boss, Julia (Jones), Ben is in love.  Of course, he is pushed aside by Drew (O'Dowd) his co-worker who has designs on Julia himself.  However, when Ben learns that Julia loves to Salsa, he begins to get back into dancing shape.

Based on a true story.

Because apparently one day Nick Frost thought of this story, and one screenplay later, here it is.

It's a little slow, perhaps deliberate, I'm still not certain, on the build-up to the story.  Then it gets going and about the mid-way point, there are changes towards the absurd .

Basically the funniest, and weirdest scene in the entire movie is the parking garage dance-off between Frost and O'Dowd.

Seriously.

Hilariously weird stuff.

I give them credit for trying some odd stuff.  Some of it works, some of it doesn't.

But it's all original, and the cast is more than willing to throw themselves into the material.

Frost is especially convincing as poor Ben who you root for to succeed as the ultimate underdog.

Final Grade: C+/B- range

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Too crude to be an engaging romantic comedy, too odd to be a perennial classic.  Silly, but otherwise forgettable.

If This Is Truly "The World's End", Then I'm Crawling Back Into Bed!

The World's End (2013)
Rated R - Language

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Directed by: Edgar Wright

The Story:

Gary King (Pegg) is trying to reunite his five friends to go on the mile long pub crawl that they tried and failed to finish 20 years earlier.  They all reluctantly agree, and return to the town of their youth.  Only things seem strangely different.  It appears that the townspeople have been replaced by robots who are trying to take over the world!

Can 5 drunk Brits save the world?

5 Of Your Finest, Please?

Well, probably, but maybe not *all five* of them.

Oooo...cryptic!

Apparently the trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) comes to an end for Frost, Pegg and Wright.

But really, the term trilogy is less than correct, more like 3 films that these guys all worked on together, as that is really the only thing the films have in common.

That said, I'm sorry to say that it went out on less than a grand note.

Let's face it, it was all downhill from Shaun of the Dead which was hilariously brilliant.

Just Try and Blend In!

The problem I had with the movie?

The pacing.

Your Complaints are Invalid!

The World's End simply takes too long to get started.  It takes forever to get the boys back home, and then it picks up, and begins rolling at a breakneck pace towards the conclusion.

With the revelation of the robots, you'd think they would have wanted to spend more time in the town as the boys rush from pub to pub.

That said, it's still not that bad of a movie, so if you really liked either of the other 2 films these guys have worked on, you're going to like this one.

Promise!

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I suppose I could watch it again after some time has passed.  My opinion might change about it.  I was less than inspired by Hot Fuzz, but having caught pieces of it again lately, it seems like it was better than I remember, so we'll see what happens.