Aquaman

When I was a little kid I enjoyed watching Superfriends on Saturday morning. For some reason out of all the cool heroes that made up the Hall of Justice, I seemed to like Aquaman the most. I'm not sure
why since I dislike oceans and fish and have never liked being in water. Anyway my idea of Aquaman has always been a yellow haired dude with green and orange water suit. As you can imagine I was a little surprised when Aquaman made his debut in Justice League and he looked like a member of a biker gang. I tried to roll with it but I think Arthur Curry doth protest too much with the overblown tough guy attitude and heavy drinking. We get it, you are a cool rebel who doesn't want to be a super hero.

This week I went with my son to see Aquaman. I saw it had received pretty good reviews and I was wanting it to be good and was hoping DC was on an upswing with one of their movies. I felt the movie started pretty weak. The scene where Black Mantis and his dad show up had some of the worst cliches and bad writing I've ever seen in a movie. When Aquaman makes his first appearance it was almost laughable. He'd say some smart ass comment and flip his hair back in dramatic fashion and then an electric guitar would play a riff as he looked into the camera. Seriously?

The movie got a little better as the story developed but I had a hard time getting into it. Some of the special effects were off the chart amazing while others were pretty lackluster. I think Jason Momoa is a cool guy but his character just tries to hard. Amber Heard was a pretty face with her dramatic red hair but I didn't think either lead was very convincing and they didn't have any chemistry. Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, and Temuera Morrison had the best performances but their screen time was limited. I found myself looking at my watch half way through the movie and that's not a good sign for an action movie. I think I actually liked the recent Superman movies more than Aquaman.

The music was also very odd. Some times it was a dramatic score but then there were scenes that switched to a synthesizer and it sounded like it was trying to be Daft Punk in Tron. I did like some of the underwater effects and really liked the scene when he got the green and gold Aquaman suit towards the end of the movie but overall I just felt like it was lacking in substance, script, development, and acting. I wanted to like Aquaman more but I can only give it 6.3 stars.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

A couple years ago I saw The Jungle Book and really enjoyed it. I thought Jon Favreau did a great job directing it and felt it was an enjoyable family film. I was surprised to see another rival version of the story come out entitled Mowgli so soon afterwards. I was even more surprised when I realized it was being released directly on Netflix.

Mowgli was directed by Andy Serkis. He is also the voice of Baloo. Like the prior movie from 2016, this is also a live action version as opposed to animation but it has a darker and more intense feel to it. There is no breaking into song in this version and very few cute or funny moments so it's less of a kid's film since it holds closer to Rudyard Kipling's book.

Just like the prior movie, this one also has a stellar cast including Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchet, Andy Serkis, Naomie Harris, and others.

One thing that I really liked about this version was the attention to some small details that brought more realism. Things like Mowgli being filthy, the scars from injuries, etc. I had a hard time deciding which version I thought had better CGI. I liked some aspects of each film more but overall I'd have to give Mowgli a slightly higher score. I was shocked to see that it had lower scores on IMDB than The Jungle Book. 

I give Mowgli 7.6 stars. 

Creed 2

I thought the first Creed movie was pretty good so I've been looking forward to the sequel coming out this month. I'd like to start by saying my hat is off to Sylvester Stalone for slowly phasing out of the staring role and not making it all about him over the last couple of movies in the series. As Rocky's character has aged he has become more wise, likeable, and caring as a supporting character and I've enjoyed seeing him take on that role.

There were so many things I liked about Creed 2. It was a great movie with several complex side stories to keep your attention. Aside from the main character's obvious boxing career, there are the challenges with his mother, wife, young child, and even a rift he went through with Rocky.

Dolph Lundgren was great reprising his role as an older, bitter Ivan Drago who has channeled so much anger into training his son Victor.. Florian Munteamu was a beast of a specimen but only ended up speaking a few sentences during the film. As their story developed I surprisingly found myself empathizing with the villains when I realized that they were also both victims.

This movies features the usual fighting and workout montages you would expect in the Rocky franchise. I appreciated how the boxing choreography was cleaned up and more realistic than some of the earlier Rocky movies. In prior movies the camera angles frequently exposed many fake punches that missed their mark by 6 inches but I didn't notice that in this film. It also added a sense of credibility to see Michael Buffer as the ring announcer, Stitch Duran as the cutman, and HBO boxing analysts.

Aside from the action, this movie is not just a testosterone-fest. There is plenty of drama and several tender and touching moments and I was surprised how emotional I got in some parts. Michael B. Jordan is a great actor and gave a very convincing performance. I give Creed a solid 8.0 stars.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

I don't usually go to kid's movies but I recently went to see Nutcracker and the Four Realms with my family. It started a little slow but I won't complain since it could have been much slower if we went to an actual ballet. The movie is based on the Nutcracker but takes plenty of liberties by embellishing a story about a girl who's mother recently passed away and left her a key to a secret world. The score was well done but people who are expecting to see the Nutcracker might not appreciate all the changes.

The girl travels to a magical world and discovers that there are four realms or kingdoms and one of them is warring with the others. She makes friends with several characters as she attempts to save the kingdom. There are some plot twists towards the end which I'm proud to say I predicted. The movie stars Mckenzie Foy who I thought did a good job. She seemed more natural and believable than other young actors I've seen in other movies.

This movie was kind of like the Nutcracker meets Narnia, meets Wizard of Oz. The film also features Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and Keira Knightley who I was embarrassed to admit I did not even recognize under all the make up until it listed her name in the end credits.

I think I noticed an Easter egg in one scene that takes place in a circus tent. There is an organ with some figurines on it and I thought one of them was Ursulla the sea witch from Little Mermaid. I could have just imagined it or been confused since nobody else in my family noticed it. Anyway that has nothing to do with the plot but it caught my attention.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms had great visuals and special effects and was original in many ways yet it was also predictable. I would think most families and kids would like it. I give it just 6.0 stars.

Ocean's 8 and Skyscraper

Recently on a flight I watched some movies I had not gotten around to seeing yet. Spoiler Alert- They were both mediocre but alright. Keep reading below for my opinion on each.

Oceans Eight- This movie is a quasi-sequel of the other Ocean's movies but it features an all female cast. Sandra Bullock is an ex con and sister to Danny Ocean of the previous movies who has passed away by the time this film takes place. She puts together a crew to help her pull off a heist at the Met Gala in New York. The movie has some nice moments but it's not nearly as fun as the prior ones. There are many great actresses in this movie but it was not quite as entertaining as an 11 person crew. I just never felt like I bonded or cared too much for any of the characters. Bullock seems kind of cold and unlikable. Aside from the reference to Danny Ocean the only other connection it has to the other movies is a brief cameo by Elliot Gould. Anne Hathaway probably had the best performance of the bunch. The details are far fetched but I can usually overlook quite a bit in this kind of movie. Oceans Eight was a little flat and only gets 6.4 stars from me.


Skyscraper- I actually rented this movie from Red Box last month but never had time to watch it. I hate it when that happens. On the plane I had plenty of time so I was looking forward to an exciting fake action movie. It's about a veteran/swat team member who loses a leg in an accident and later retires and works as a security consultant for skyscrapers. He is hired for a job at the opening of the world's tallest building in Hong Kong. Some bad guys with a grudge against the owner try to spoil the grand opening by lighting it on fire. It's very similar to Die Hard but the main character's family is in the building and in danger the whole time.The Rock is great as always. This movie also had plenty of unrealistic aspects but it was still entertaining and better than expected after seeing the trailer. I give it 6.7 stars.