'Game Night' Review

Max and Annie are a competitive couple who hold weekly game nights with their close friends. One day, Max's brother Brooks decides to kick things up a notch by arranging a murder mystery party involving fake thugs and federal agents. When Brooks is kidnapped, everyone assumes that it's a staged part of the game and they quickly set out to solve the clues. However, they quickly discover the situation is much more serious then they could have ever imagined... 

John Francis Daley and Johnathan Goldstein co-directed Game Night while Mark Perez wrote the screenplay, and I must say I was quite impressed by their work considering how little I was expecting from the film. If I'm being completely honest, I had no intention of watching Game Night when I went to the theater as I actually went to see Annihilation... However, the showing I planned on watching was sold out so I settled for Game Night as a last minute stand-in and you now have the pleasure of reading a review I probably wouldn't have written otherwise. 

For me, the crucial component of a comedy is whether it made me laugh consistently or not, and Game Night definitely delivered in that department. Perez's script is full of zingers and the cast comedic timing is spot-on, so I cackled on several occasions. I was also rather impressed how Daley and Goldstein didn't simply take the "R" rating as a liberty to steep into the lazy territory most raunchy comedies traverse these days. My main source of criticism resides with the marketing for showcasing some of the funnier bits in trailers, but I suppose the studio has gotta do what it takes to get butts in seats. Other than that, I'd say the characters are rather simple and not too compelling. They're very paint-by-numbers with cliché archetypes, but I honestly wasn't expecting much else considering it's a comedy.

As for the cast, everyone does a solid job and is afforded their moment to shine. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams prove to have a delightful on-screen dynamic and are thoroughly hilarious in numerous scenes. Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Billy Magnussen, and Sharon Horgan are also incredibly engaging as Max and Annie's couple friends and Kyle Chandler is convincingly overconfident as Max's self-important brother Brooks. Meanwhile, Jesse Plemons is probably the one you'll be thinking about most afterwards due to the eccentricities of his creepy character. With that in mind, I'd advise sticking around through the first part of the credits for some stuff you may get a kick out of!

If you're apprehensive about seeing Game Night because you're afraid it might be a mediocre modern comedy, I can assure you that you'll be rolling some loaded dice guaranteeing lots of laughter and a great time at the theater. It's understandable that you may have a difficult time choosing what to see this weekend if you missed out on Black Panther or maybe want to even see it a second time, but Game Night certainly qualifies as a capable comedy. When contemplating what to watch this weekend, remember either will suffice and it's always better to be safe than Sorry!

Film Assessment: B

'Zootopia' Review

Nominated For: Best Animated Feature.

Won: Best Animated Feature.

In Zootopia, predator and prey have evolved and now coexist with little tolerance for the other. Zootopia's plot centers on Judy Hopps, a small town rabbit with ambitions to be the first bunny police officer despite all the obstacles in her way. Judy lands the job, but is relegated to be a lowly meter maid. Through a series of events, she's forced to ally herself with Nick Wilde, a sly fox, to solve a case and prove herself to her superiors. Surprisingly, Zootopia is a much more intelligent film than one would suspect, with it's own messages regarding discrimination, stereotypes, and proving one's self. These underlying themes couldn't come at a better time in which we ourselves, humanity, have fallen victim to the same tropes. While, I'm not going to comment too much about this problem in our own society due to it's controversy, I will say that it is indeed an issue and I respect Zootopia all the more for having the audacity to address the problem. I know that one "kid's movie" may not be powerful enough to have much immediate impact, it's great to see that it's teaching children to accept others no matter what preconceived notions you have about the person. Now that I've addressed the elephant in the room, I will say that Zootopia like last year's Inside Out, will cater more towards adults than children as many of the jokes will fly right over their heads. That's not to say the jokes are inappropriate or anything of that nature but rather are more relatable to the older audience members. For example, there's one gag where only sloths work at the DMV that had me laughing hysterically, despite the fact that it was prominently featured in the trailers for the film almost in it's entirety. There are a multitude of references throughout the film, including a direct one to Disney Animation's latest and upcoming work. One of Zootopia's best assets is the tantalizing world building, which leaves the viewer to want to see more and more of the animal's utopia. The creators found clever ways to answer almost any question a viewer could engender utilizing the expansive world. For example, it's possible some may ponder "How can animals of drastically different sizes all use the same public transportation?" to which the film responds with different doors and entry ways for the corresponding animal sizes. Zootopia manages to find room to include the animal equivalents of Apple, Target, and Macy's, to name a few stores we are so familiar with, that are quite amusing to see pop up throughout the film. Zootopia is also very well paced with a compelling mixture of humor, heart, and touching moments and I never lost interest with what was transpiring onscreen, despite this being Disney Animation's longest running animated film to date at an hour and 48 minutes. Zootopia bolsters a very impressive voice cast including the likes of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons and even Shakira. Ginnifer Goodwin is terrific voicing Judy Hopps injecting plenty of energy and heart into the character as a lovable lead character. Jason Bateman voices the slick con artist fox, Nick Wilde and manages to pack tons of emotion narrating one intense flashback scene that had me on the verge of tears. These two were the lead characters of the film and were definitely my favorite characters upon leaving the film. Idris Elba was also quite great as the temperamental cape buffalo, Chief Bogo and J.K. Simmons as the charming Mayor Lionheart in the dashes of screen time the character had. Zootopia also has quite a few standout supporting characters, who are interjected in the narrative in small doses, including the chubby cheetah Clawhauser, the small rodent crime boss Mr. Big, and the quickest DMV sloth employee Flash (although that isn't saying much since he's a sloth). Maurice LaMarche does a terrific squeaky interpretation of a Marlo Brando Godfather impression as Mr. Big, once you see the film, you will know exactly what I mean. Shakira is essentially relegated to singing the main song "Try Everything" but certainly has a presence throughout since her character Gazelle is a singing gazelle pop star. The song "Try Everything" is catchy for sure, but it quickly will get stuck in your head and drive you crazy after hearing it too much. Kinda like "Let It Go" I guess. In summary, Zootopia is definitely another hit for Disney Animation to follow up their more recent successes that appeals to all ages with cute creatures kids will love and mature sophisticated themes and real world humor for the adults. Forget Frozen 2, lets get a sequel to Zootopia. 

Film Assessment: A-