kellym40 film review

Action hails from new heights in ‘Skyscraper’

Rating 2.5/5

Although I found some faults with this film, it was a somewhat enjoyable experience (maybe because it was released on my birthday). More probable is that it had just enough to keep me engaged without it meandering off in many different storylines and subplots.

As one reviewer put it, it’s something of a combination of Die Hard and The Towering Inferno. Which means, it has just enough mindless action to keep an audience entertained for 102 minutes, but not much else to make you go “Wow, that was amazing.” 

Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote and directed this particular piece of movie cinema with the idea of making a summer blockbuster with a big name actor attached to it. The film does provide a spectacle and sets forth an array of action sequences. However, while it does an adequate job of creating the thrilling action scenes, it doesn’t appear to have a good grasp on setting up the major plot. Unless I just missed something along the way. I didn’t fully get the major story point until maybe half way through the film. And of course once I got it, I put the pieces together and I was back in the film. As I said earlier, I was engulfed in the film. It was that initial set up, which should have been early in the second act, that would have made it just a little more clear of why the bad guys were trying to do what they are doing.

First, before going any further, the film starts off introducing the hero Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) as a highly trained Marine and FBI agent who’s in charge of a hostage negotiation that doesn’t go as planned. The suspect sets off a bomb, killing some agents and wounding others. This is the inciting incident that sets the movie in motion. He is rushed to the hospital and meets his future wife Sarah (Neve Campbell) the doctor about to operate on him. Flash-forward several years later, we find Will married with two kids. He has lost his left leg below the knee in that earlier incident. Will now serves as a security consultant where his latest job has taken him and his family – McKenna Grace and Noah Cottrell portray his children – to Hong Kong. His job is to analyze the safety of The Pearl – a self-contained city, stretching higher into the sky within the building. It’s the design of billionaire Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han)

Of course, the audience does discover Will is being set up somehow as his former team member, Ben (Pablo Schreiber) who was also injured in the blast from the beginning of the film, receives a text message indicating he is in some way working with the bad guys.

Roland Moller plays Kores Botha, who leads his team of evil henchmen into the bulding with highly flammable chemicals to set the place on fire. Will’s wife and kids were not supposed to be there, but they have returned unexpectedly because they actually live in one of the residential units in a building that is not supposed to open yet? I guess they get to stay there because Will is the security consultant.

That’s of course the moment that Johnson springs into action to save his family. This propels the movie into the second act. In the wildly imaginative, thrilling action sequences that follow, Will uses his military training (and his prosthetic leg) in creative ways in order to get to his family and stop the evildoers.

The film moved along at a decent pace for the 102-minute runtime. The effects were believable, which added to the excitement and thrills. However, they weren’t extraordinary. It did sort of feel like Die Hard in the sense it took place in a tall building as he was trying to get to his family and bring them to safety. Something to note, though, is that Johnson, while a decent action star, didn’t quite seem to fit here. Something just felt out of place with his role. That being said, most of the leading characters (good guys and bad guys) didn’t seem to have much in character development. There wasn’t much there to make you really feel for the characters.

In all, the film did have action and effects and it kept me in just enough to be entertained for a little while, but not enough to make it remarkable.

kellym40 film review

Dinosaurs, greed are back in ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’

Rating 3/5

It is almost inconceivable that this makes the fifth installment in this dinosaur franchise about scientists sort of playing god and the greedy businessmen who are in it to make a quick buck. But alas, here we are. I know it’s been a little while with this review as I am trying to catch up on a few films. But I will offer some type of reflection for the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it or needs to revisit the film for any reason.

In 1993, Steven Spielberg directed a screenplay by Michael Crichton, which was based on Crichton’s book, Jurassic Park. The film boasted with amazement and wonder, and delighted audiences worldwide. There seemed to be something special and magical with that film. Obviously there was, because it spawned two sequels and now a “rebooted” franchise. The third installment, Jurassic Park III (released in 2001) appeared mediocre at best. Fourteen years later, Jurassic World was released. For some reason, I really enjoyed that film. I thought it brought back some of the original magic back from the first film. However, one thing that I did have reservations about was how many times do we have to see scientists playing with an incredible force of nature, like dinosaur DNA, to create not only replicas of actual dinosaurs, but also genetically create new species?

That question was answered earlier this year with the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. As a film, it was adequate in bringing action, a little suspense, and excitement to audiences. But again, the premise was essentially the same.

The film, directed by J.A. Bayona from a script penned by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, postulates the island where the original park was is in danger of becoming ravaged by a soon-to-be erupting volcano. The question is asked, should they be saved? Jeff Goldblum returns as Dr. Ian Malcolm. He sits before a congressional committee to give his thoughts on that question. He ultimately tells the committee to let nature take its course. And of course there are people on both sides of the issue. Bryce Dallas Howard once again portrays Claire Dearing, who is running a save-the-dinosaurs nonprofit, and is frustrated by congressional inaction. Part of the story involves a supposed safe-haven for the dinosaurs, but the men behind that have ulterior motives. They negotiate a way for Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to accompany in order to help retrieve “Blue,” the raptor trained by Owen in Jurassic World. Rounding out the cast as major players are Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Toby Jones, Daniella Pineda, Ted Levine, and BD Wong.

The action and story moved along at a reasonable pace. There was plenty of dialogue and action to keep me in the film. And of course as in any of these films in this franchise, there has to be a part where everything seems all unicorns and rainbows until some idiot makes a wrong move and releases some ferocious dinosaurs.

The performances were nothing extraordinary, but the actors brought the characters to life with believable action and motivation. They played well off their surroundings and special effects. And speaking of special effects, they were virtually flawless. I mean that in a way where nothing really seemed to appear fake or unbelievable.

Bottom line – this movie was geared to be a sort of summer blockbuster. It had an estimated budget of $170 million. It has garnered a total of $384,164,925 in the United States as of July 22, and a cumulative worldwide total of more than $1 billion as of July 19. These stats are according to http://www.imdb.com. The film used the familiar conventions that have worked in the past. And for me, they seemed to work just fine. Some may not care for that (and I usually don’t), but it worked for me here.

kellym40 film review

Not another Star Wars Story in ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’

Rating 3/5

Famed director Ron Howard took over the director’s chair to bring us another adventure in the Star Wars universe. This time bringing a script, penned by Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan, to life with beloved characters and introducing some new ones.

I am sure by now most people have seen the film (or at least those who wanted to see the film), but it still might be a little tricky to write this review. And not because it’s been a couple of months since its release – and I’m just getting around to write it – but it’s a film that had its ups and downs and a little difficult to formulate a “why?” to this film.

On the forefront, it seemed a bit unnecessary. However, it was still fun to see a little younger Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) as he befriends his trusty future co-pilot, Chewbacca (Joonas Su0tamo), and we witness how the relationship develops. The film also gives a glimpse of how the “friendship” began with fellow smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

Aside from that, Solo: A Star Wars Story isn’t bad. It’s not great, either. It had some spirited fun and adequate performances, some humor, and a few surprising bits thrown in. It appears that most fans, or theatergoers for that matter, were not particularly interested with this outing from Disney. Considering it had a estimated $3 million budget and only received under $85 million in its opening weekend solidified the notion the film was not necessarily needed. As of July 19, the film grossed $212,174,307 in the US and $385,185,465 worldwide. That doesn’t seem like much from a film of such a honored franchise.

It appears the film was made more or less as a fan service with some of the aforementioned bits to make it just exciting enough to watch, but not enough to necessarily care about the film as a whole. I did enjoy the film, but it didn’t have enough to make me say, “Wow, I really haven’t seen that before.”

Other names like Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton and Paul Bettany lend their talents to the franchise. And even as talented as some of those names are, it didn’t really seem to add much more to the film. On the whole, the performances were not bad and they each brought something to the character, but they weren’t anything spectacular. Even Ehrenreich’s Han didn’t seem to live up to the established character played by Harrison Ford.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is a film in which someone decided to do and thought it would be a good idea, but no one stopped to think if it should be made. With the film’s highs and lows in production to its somewhat mediocre outing at the box office, this film didn’t do much for me as part of the whole space saga, but on its own it was a quiet, tolerable surprise.