Annihilation

First Hit: This film wasn’t suspenseful, interesting, or had characters the audience could care about.

It was hard for me to believe that a film with Natalie Portman (as Lena), Jennifer Jason Leigh (as Dr. Ventress), Oscar Isaac (Kane), and Gina Rodriguez (Anya) could not be full of drama and interest. However,  not being able to care about the characters, I was hoping to care about their predicament.

Lena is a teaching physician in biology medicine after having a seven-year career in the military. It was in the military where she met her husband Kane who is a special ops person in the military.

Kane gets assigned to be sent into “The Shimmer” which is overtaking a place on the east coast of the United States. He's suppose to help the government understand what this thing is. The Shimmer came as a result of a meteorite hitting a lighthouse. Every group that goes into The Shimmer never comes back and The Shimmer is expanding.

However, after a year Kane does return and is in a sealed room being watched by the government and scientists. To find out what caused her husband to be in this comatose state Lena goes in to The Shimmer with Anya, Dr. Ventress and two others.

Only Lena gets to the goal, the lighthouse where the meteor struck.

The Shimmer wasn’t very interesting to look at. The story line and what Lena finds at the lighthouse isn’t interesting. The worst thing is that the characters aren’t interesting at all.

Portman probably did as she was told by the director and read the lines, but there wasn’t any depth to her character and I’m not sure where to put this problem because Portman is a great actress and usually delivers a strong character. Leigh was intense and gritty but, as with Portman’s character, I didn’t care and didn’t want to know anything more about her. Rodriguez was the most volatile character but there wasn’t anything around her character to have me care either. Isaac was no better than the rest of the characters, non-interesting. Alex Garland wrote and directed this mess.

Overall: This film is not worth seeing even though the names associated with the film are held in high regard.

Black Panther

First Hit:  The inspiration was lost in the excessive fighting.

I’ve stated before and I’ll say it again. I’m not the target audience for Marvel type films. I find them excessively violent, do not base enough of the film on believable, or an attempt to make believable, characters, and don’t have interesting stories behind them. This film was no exception. It may be the last time I see a Marvel film.

That there is an entire country in Africa having such a superior technology and basis for living and not taking advantage of it to lead the world out of its stupidity, just didn’t work. Yes, the screenwriters gave a reason for this and I didn’t think it was intellectually based.

The best part of the film was how the story elevated women as the leaders in scientific and protective warrior prowess. The second-best part of the film were the effects. In many sections the special effects were first rate.

The essence of the story, from what I could figure out, is that because of mistrust, the previous king T’Chaka (John Kani) goes to Oakland, CA to find out how Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) had infiltrated his country Wakanda and stole Vibranium, the secret component that allows Wakanda to be technology light years ahead of everyone else in the world. The thieves were planning to use the secret powers of Vibranium in the world at large.

Exposing this plot, King T’Chaka, kills his brother, and leaves his brother’s son Erik Killmonger (as an adult Michael B. Jordan) in Oakland. The king dies and his other son T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes King and the Black Panther after drinking the essence of flowers grown in Vibranium.

Because of a heist of vibranium from a museum, the Black Panther and his intellectual lieutenant Shuri (Letitia Wright) and special forces chief Okoye (Danai Gurira) go out into the world with their super powers and attempt to recapture the stolen Vibranium.

Being throwarted Killmonger in his plan finds a way to Wankanda to get ahold of all the Vibranium. He challenges T’Challa for the throne of Wankanda and succeeds. With his new-found conquest, he decides, with vindictiveness, to rule the world with Wankanda’s technology.

However, as we all know, T’Challa wasn’t killed and comes back to save Wankanda from Killmonger's change in plans for Wankanda.

The fighting sequences were overdone, the use of rhinoceroses as battle weapons was sad and a bit overdone, and the line that seemed odd to me was when and Killmonger proceeded to say that he was fighting for his ancestors that were sent to the new world as slaves. What was peculiar about this was, that his ancestors came from Wankanda, a privileged society, long before slavery was began in Africa.

Boseman was good as the King and Black Panther, but there wasn’t anything outstanding about his performance. Strongest performance of this film goes to Letitia Wright. Her powerful character as intellectual leader was fantastic. Gurira was also excellent in her role as leader of the special forces. She embodied this role. Jordan was very good as the protagonist. His dynamic personality came through in this role. Lupita Nyong’o as T’Challa’s former lover Nakia, war dog, and undercover spy was very strong. Forest Whitaker as Zuri as the wise elder statesman and keeper of the secret Vibranium herb, was OK. He seemed to press his lines to make them important. Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole wrote this script that focused more on fighting and special effects than substance of a story, but that is what Marvel wanted and paid for. Coogler directed this film.

Overall:  I’ve got to stop going to Marvel films because I get bored quickly and find them to lack substance beyond the displaying ways to present action.

Hostiles

First Hit:  Although it is long and at times languid, it tells a wonderful story of coming to grips with our internal and external enemies.

I like films that have the main characters learn from introspection and if done well, they bring a smile to my face.

The film’s setup is watching the cruelty of a family being slaughtered by a small band of renegade Comanche Indians. They come to steal their horses, will kill everyone, and set fire to their home. The wife/mother finds a way to hide and although her husband and three children are killed, she survives.

Then we switch to lifelong (since age 14) Indian fighter Captain Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale) of the U.S. Calvary, as he captures and brings in what he hopes to be the last of the Apache Indians that have been fighting settlers.

His hatred for the Indians that have scalped and killed settlers is ever present in his face and manner. When summoned to Colonel Abraham Biggs office, we learn the depth of his hatred. The cause for his outburst is that he’s been assigned, under the orders of the President of the United States, to take his sworn enemy Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), who is dying, to the Chief's home in Montana to die peacefully.

During this mission, he comes across Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike) the lone survivor of the first scene’s massacre. He takes her with him on the mission and together they find it in their hearts to both suffer, learn, and forgive.

The film just takes a while to get there but in the end I thought it was worth it. The hints of Blocker's deeper compassion are displayed through the kind gestures Blocker he shows his men and Quaid.

The beautiful scenery in the film improved and made the journey of watching much better. The way Blocker’s past kept arriving to him as a reminder of his ways while watching Quaid grow from her terrible ordeal, was exquisite. The scene when Blocker speaks with Corporal Henry Woodsen (Jonathan Majors) while they said goodbye was deeply touching of the deep respect and love they had for each other. The caring Blocker had for Master Sergeant Thomas Metz (Rory Cochrane) was divine. When Metz said that he was tired and done with this path, instead of dismissing this, Blocker embraced the place from which Metz said it. As Quaid supported the Indian women and men during the journey, the audience felt her movement towards forgiveness.

These connections made this film work. However, it does take a while to get there, so if you see this film, sit back, relax and let the film speak to you internally.

Bale was clearly wonderful in this role. His ability to show compassion and caring for another human being as well as his hatred was amazing. His physical expressions rarely changed much, it all came from his eyes. Pike was sublime. She showed a depth of angst that is rarely expressed on screen, and her movement towards forgiveness was perfect. Cochrane was great. I loved his ability to make his role real. Majors showed great depth of character in a role where he gets to stand for something and honor another as well. Studi was perfect and the Chief who kept his honor while making his way towards death. Scott Cooper wrote the script and directed this film. I saw both his reasoning for making it 2 hours and 14 minutes long and also saw where there could have been cuts which would have made it crisper.

Overall:  After letting the film settle in, I found that I enjoyed the journey.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

First Hit:  Unimpressive effects, tired story, and there is little hope that the new cast of characters can carry this story into the future.

Trying to create the magic of the original film by using the same music, the open space background and the scrolling storyline explanation almost worked.

However shortly into the story, all we got to watch is multiple battles; signal combatants and groups of combatants. It just got boring to watch fight after fight after fight.

What would have helped was, if Rey (Daisy Ridley) had the depth of spirit and a powerful inner presence to play someone going to take us, and the story, to a next level and into the future. Her facial expressions showed she doesn't understand the depth of this story and the inability to create the kind of intrigue that Star Wars must hang on. The lack of communication through her eyes was a dead giveaway. This was a disappointment because in her first turn as Rey in “The Force Awakens,” she showed promise. The hopes of having a strong independent woman take us forward is perfect because Leia’s character passes with Carrie Fisher’s passing.

Another problem with this film is Luke Skywalker’s role and character (Mark Hamill). Here he is played as grumpy and tired. Yes, he has a right to be tired and grumpy, for all the battles’ he’s been through but the script gives him little room to breathe. Because of this he suffocates as Luke and so does the audience.

The story is essentially the turning over the final page of the old guard characters, and opening the book to the new guard. Hans Solo is gone, Darth Vader is gone, Snoke (Andy Serkis) gets toasted, and Leia, who is the leader of the resistance, has a son, Kyle Ren (Adam Driver), who becomes the leader of the first order bent on destroying the resistance and ruling the universe. Before it was father (dark) and son (light); now it is mother (light) and son (dark).

Too many things are already known, which is the opposite of what made the original film work. The first film was an exploration into the unknown. The films, after the original, varied in strengths and weaknesses, but always sought to keep an edge of the unknown for the future. The Force Awakens, was strong and was that way because it was a welcome back to the original story and characters and what would happen as they passed. Now we know - little.

Besides being overall dark of color, there are a few interesting special effects but nothing that will set this film apart from any of the other effects focused films that have come out in the last few years. Effects can never take the place of a good story with interesting characters.  And having mediocre effects and little story makes this film fail.

Hamill acted as though the life had been sucked out of him. Yes, this was part of the role but it didn’t seem like his heart was in this character any longer. Carrie Fisher as Leia was tired. She looked tired, there was little energy or enthusiasm coming from her and this swan song is not reflective of what she gave to the role in the past. Driver is one of the few highlights in the film as he does have the capability to carry the anger and darkness required as the new enemy of the resistance. Ridley is fair as Rey. She’s supposed to be a ray of light to the upcoming stories but to me she lacks a depth of spirit and it shows in every frame she’s in. John Boyega as Finn is good. As a side character and carrying what is good about the resistance he’s strong, but I didn’t buy into his being the fighter he is made out to be. Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron was good but it’s mostly script and storytelling that fails him. Serkis as the character Snoke is good enough. Rian Johnson wrote this mediocre script that relies on fighting and digital effects more than telling a great story with characters. Johnson also directed this film and it shows that he doesn’t have the chops for telling a Star Wars story that intrigues an audience into the future.

Overall:  This film could keep me from seeing next installment as I don’t want to dragged down any further.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

First Hit:  The interaction of the actors in this film make it work – I enjoyed it.

It is hard to miss the funny mark when you’ve got Jack Black (as Bethany), Kevin Hart (as Fridge) and Dwayne Johnson (as Spencer) together in a film. The wonderful part is that Karen Gillan (as Martha) held her own quite well with these three funny and larger than life guys.

A young Spencer (Alex Wolf) is nerdy and unsure of himself. As the film begins, he’s being taken advantage of by a young Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), who is a big strapping young man. Intimidating Spencer into doing his homework Fridge creates a friendship of convenience.Although Spence is somewhat resentful of being taken advantage of he does it anyway. After they get caught cheating, they are sent to detention.

Young Bethany (Madison Iseman) is the class popular beauty. She’s constantly on her phone and uses her contrived sexuality to get her way in school.  She ignores a teacher’s request to put away her phone and gets sent to detention.

Young Martha (Morgan Turner) is a nerd and introverted. She hates PE and tells the teacher she won’t participate in the exercise class and gets detention.

This is the setup and together in detention they discover an old electronic version of Jumanji. Getting sucked into the game they end up in a jungle where they arrive as the opposite of who they are outside the game. Spencer (Johnson) is no longer an intimidated skinny nerd, he’s a big, strong assertive man. The big man on campus football player Fridge (Hart), has turned into a small wise cracking man. The beautiful Bethany (Black) turns into a short dumpy man. And the nerdy quiet Martha (Gillan) has turned into a beautiful, strong woman who is a martial arts expert.

Given this setup, a lot could go wrong if the situations and dialogue are weak or don’t allow the actors breathing room, however this is not the situation. It works: The situations and dialogue create scenes that are funny and allow the actors to interpret both their former younger selves while embodying their new older bodies and skills.

Johnson is fun to watch here because his ability to seem like his size and strength are new to him really works. His interactions with Hart are priceless. Hart does a great job of trying to make the others still believe he’s still the size of his younger self instead of his shorter self. The script makes good use of his innate talents of making wise cracks and barking out his intentions. Black is perfect. He makes you believe that he was once a beautiful young lady who is now trapped in a stubby man’s body. I enjoyed the scenes when he gave Martha lessons on how to seduce the men guarding the transportation building. Gillan was fantastic because, despite her beauty, she embodied the nerdy girl of her younger self. She was great as the martial arts expert, ready to kick some butt. Wolff, Blain, Iseman and Turner all did a wonderful job of being the younger characters. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers did a nice job of creating a screenplay that enhanced the story and actors. Jake Kasdan elevated the story to something fun and engaging.

Overall: I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film.