'It Chapter Two' Review

Synopsis: In the sleepy town of Derry, the evil clown Pennywise returns 27 years later to torment the grown-up members of the Losers' Club, who have long since drifted apart from one another.

Runtime: 169 minutes

MPAA Rating: R (for disturbing violent content and bloody images throughout, pervasive language, and some crude sexual material)

Who should see it? Adult fans of Stephen King and It (2017).

Directed by Andy Muschietti and penned by Gary Dauberman, It Chapter 2 adapts the remainder of Stephen King's beloved best-selling novel. Often, book fans are disheartened to discover specific scenes lost in the transition to the big screen. Well, fans of the source material will surely be delighted to learn It Chapter 2 is two hours and forty-nine minutes long. Though I haven't read the novel myself, I imagine It Chapter 2 is a faithful adaptation by virtue of its lengthy runtime. Not to mention, the added benefit of splitting the book into two movies. However, a film's running time can feasibly make-or-break the storytelling on display. In this case, It Chapter 2 felt drawn out and overstuffed.

Burdened by an over-reliance on flashbacks, It Chapter 2 must contend with advancing the present-day plot while "The Losers Club" confront their past trauma. The flashbacks are necessary to fill in gaps from its predecessor and inform the adult Losers' emotional response to their surroundings, but they derail the story's pace substantially. I suppose the filmmakers were reluctant to trim out the glut and hone in on a more focused narrative, but several scenes could have been abbreviated. Muschietti and company seem interested in delivering the most faithful adaptation possible, and though the ambition is admirable, a more economical use of screen time was achievable. On a brighter note, transitions between past and present were quite impressive, so hats off to editor Jason Ballantine for a job well done.

To take a detour from drawbacks, I appreciate the well-intentioned efforts of all involved. The cinematography, production design, and score effectively blend to establish a creepy atmosphere that the film scarcely abandons. Like the first, there are some cheap jump scares and I'd be reluctant to classify the onscreen events as "scary" (though horror's subjective). And also akin to its predecessor, It Chapter 2 is at its best when focused on "The Losers Club."

The teen and adult incarnations of "The Losers" are portrayed well by their respective casts. Depicting the middle-aged "Losers," Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean channel their striking characteristics to great effect. They're so well-cast that you conceivably envision the younger "Losers" maturing into them. Chastain, McAvoy, and Hader are notable stand-outs while the lesser-known cast members also demonstrate solid acting chops. Mustafa and Bean noticeably have less screen time as Mike and Stanley (a recurring issue from Chapter One), but their narrative significance somewhat compensates for that.

Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Wyatt Oleff each reprise their roles for flashbacks via the CG de-aging technique frequently showcased in Marvel movies as of late. However, the effectiveness of this technology varies drastically. Some of the children genuinely resembled their younger selves while the others had what I'd describe as unnaturally rubber faces. Given that most of these actors underwent puberty in-between installments, their voices are also altered in post-production, which was also quite noticeable. In an ideal world, this footage would have been shot during production of the first chapter, but I understand budgetary restraints, scheduling, and an incomplete script likely prohibited that from happening. In spite of these technological flukes outside their control, the young actors lend ample nuance to these characters once more. 

Returning as Pennywise, Bill Skarsgård plays the deranged clown quite well. However, as an antagonist, Pennywise put up a lousy effort attempting to stop the Losers where he'd often come and go as the plot dictated. While the Loser's mindset (realizing it's not real) occasionally resisted him, that wasn't always a factor in his sudden disappearances. 

Despite its flaws, fans of Stephen King needn't fear for the second chapter's buoyancy. Ambition, top-rate production value, and a skillful ensemble are enough to keep this sequel afloat, but It Chapter 2 is a bloated and uneven follow-up.

Film Assessment: B-

'Dark Phoenix' Review

Synopsis: During a life-threatening space rescue mission, Jean Grey is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with an increasingly unstable power as well as her personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet.

Runtime: 113 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, including some gunplay, disturbing images, and brief strong language)

Who should see it? Marvel fans who are eager to see the end of Fox's X-Men Saga.

Written and directed by longtime X-Men writer/producer Simon Kinberg as his feature directorial debut, Dark Phoenix is the twelfth and, presumably, final entry in 20th Century Fox's X-Men universe. In nineteen years, there have been six prior X-features, three spin-offs starring Wolverine, and two Deadpool side-adventures. Though the studio delivered a series of superhero installments with inconsistent quality and jumbled continuity, there were genuine gems among the bunch, and Bryan Singer's X-Men was at the forefront of the comic-book movie craze alongside Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in the early 2000s. Those films were largely responsible for driving interest in the cinematic superhero offerings seen today, so it's bitter-sweet to see the franchise come to an end on account of Disney's recent Fox acquisition.

One notable implication regarding the Disney/Fox merger is that Marvel Studios will finally have creative control over the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and other related comic entities. Free to integrate these popular comic characters into their cinematic universe, I imagine we'll see rebooted incarnations from Marvel and Disney soon enough. Of course, there are plenty of troubling concerns and silver linings pertaining to the merger, but that's a discussion for another day. Between numerous release delays and extensive reshoots, Dark Phoenix experienced a troubled production and many wondered if Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants would ever see the light of day under Disney's dominion. While the jury's still out on The New Mutants, Dark Phoenix finally flew into cinemas this weekend but is looking to crash and burn with the lowest respective Rotten Tomatoes score and opening weekend box office gross of the entire franchise.

Honestly, Dark Phoenix is far from the worst X-Men film though. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Apocalypse are each more deserving of that distinction in my mind. Dark Phoenix contains plenty of interesting ideas which are unfortunately fumbled in execution and will be overlooked due to some cheesy moments and awful dialogue. However, the bad is balanced out by moderately engaging action, a gifted ensemble, and another astounding score from Hans Zimmer. I genuinely appreciated the opening fifteen-twenty minutes, but the film teeters out and loses steam in the second act's sea of angsty melodrama. Above all, the biggest issue facing Dark Phoenix is that we barely know this younger iteration of the X-Men, and Kinberg's narrative depends on audience investment.

Jean Grey, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Storm were all briefly introduced and scarcely developed as supporting presences in X-Men: Apocalypse. Apocalypse was overcrowded with characters, so barely anyone did anything remotely consequential in that movie or much less experienced character growth, but there needed to be at least one other film between Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix to flesh them out as individuals. Instead, the development occurs off-screen. As a result, I didn't really care about the team's melodrama because they'd barely been defined as characters.

As for the cast, most everyone gets a moment to shine in-spite of thin characterization. Sophie Turner never reaches her full potential as Jean Grey but does the best with what she's given and lends weight to the dramatic, under-written heel turn of her character. Turner sells Jean's conflicted and complex emotional state, as well as her menacing qualities when faced against her fellow mutants. On the other hand, Jessica Chastain portrays Vuk as an uninspired alien antagonist void of all personality. The character's meant to be detached, and her motivation's clearly laid out, but Vuk fails to resonate as a person of interest because it may as well be played by a cardboard cut-out of Chastain.

The First Class crew of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, and Jennifer Lawrence reprise their roles for the fourth time, finally ready to bow out as Professor X, Magneto, Beast and Mystique. Fassbender and McAvoy continue to be series MVPs, lending further nuance to the ongoing debate between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, while Hoult's Hank McCoy grapples with an emotional dilemma and Lawrence arrives to set caked in cheaper-looking blue make-up to collect her paycheck and fulfill the remainder of her contract. Carrying over from Apocalypse, Tye Sheridan's Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp's Storm, Kodi Smit-McPhee's Nightcrawler, and Evan Peters' Quicksilver are unfortunately relegated to meager supporting roles with the occasional impressive display of their abilities. Their narrative contributions are inconsequential, and it's a shame that these characters were side-lined once more.

Viewers are ultimately left with a watchable superhero flick, but those are now a dime a dozen. The Fox X-Men franchise finally burnt out, but I'm looking forward to seeing what rises from the ashes in the capable hands of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. Hopefully, Marvel can reignite audience interest in these classic comic characters.

Film Assessment: C

'Molly's Game' Review

Nominated For: Best Adapted Screenplay.

Molly's Game goes all in to tell the true story of Molly Bloom, a former Olympic class skier who ran the most exclusive high stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested by the FBI. Now, with only her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey at her side, Bloom must fight off a federal court indictment.

Renowned screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, breaks in to adapt Bloom's book and he hits the jackpot with his directorial debut. Sorkin has had a straight flush of solid screenplays in the past, and Molly's Game is no seven-deuce. Sorkin shows his hand quite quickly, exuding style to spare in explaining the logistics of skiing and running high stakes poker games in the vein of recent films like I, Tonya, The Big Short, and The Wolf Of Wall Street. Sorkin's dialogue is sharp, snarky, and straight to the point. Just the way I like it... Sorkin's ace in the hole though is having accomplished actors such as Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, and Michael Cera engage in the consummate conversation.

As much as I love Sorkin's dialogue, some scenes hedged their bets and overstayed their welcome. I think this was largely due to Sorkin's inexperience as a director though, because an experienced director recognizes when a scene starts to run a little long and identify what can be taken out without jeopardizing the rest of the film. However, I'm not sure Sorkin was too interested in cutting any of his own material to condense the running time. And it's not that my issue is that two hours and twenty minutes is too long of a running time, because I'd happily watch three hours of anything so long as the story is focused and maintains my interest. In this case, two hours and twenty minutes was too long for this story because I really felt length of the film's running time towards the end.

Thanks to a powerhouse lead like Jessica Chastain, Sorkin's blunders ultimately don't handicap the film too much though. Chastain simply has a such a commanding screen presence that you can't help but respect Molly Bloom for building such a powerful Poker empire. Chastain projects substantial strength, confidence, and determination in her performance, so you totally buy into the fact Molly was able to rise among a male-dominated arena. 

Having a strong supporting player like Idris Elba around doesn't hurt either, as Elba's Jaffey matches Chastain's Bloom word-for-word thanks to their dynamite dynamic. Michael Cera receives a rather interesting role as "Player X," one of the A-list celebrities Bloom rubbed elbows with in her escapades (assumed to be Tobey Maguire by many), and Cera plays his hand well by leaving a sizable impression with limited screen-time. Kevin Costner also lends his expertise as Bloom's father, Larry, and makes the most of every opportunity to chastise Chastain.

If there's one thing I ought to say about Molly's Game though, it would be that Sorkin went all in for his directorial debut. While he may not have laid down a royal flush, Sorkin certainly had no need to bluff about bringing a few aces to the table in the form of an expert ensemble and a superlative script.

Film Assessment: B

Recollection Reflection Review: 'Interstellar'

This review was originally supposed to be published the week Dunkirk was released, but it just got delayed and delayed and delayed due to extenuating circumstances... However, we can just pretend I'm publishing it now to coincide with Dunkirk's home media release and the upcoming Ultra HD 4K editions of Nolan's films next week. In other news, I'm all caught up with my draft reviews of more current releases (which I'll soon finally be able to share with you) and I'm currently overcoming an illness, so it seemed like the optimal time to finally work on this review.

'Interstellar' Review

Nominated for: Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Score.

Won: Best Visual Effects.

Recollection- 'Interstellar' Review

Reflection- I can recall seeing Interstellar in IMAX three years back and being blown away by Nolan's mastery of storytelling, both visually and narratively. I'd consider my older review of the film more simple in detailing my thoughts when compared to my more recent reviews, but that's exactly why I started doing these Triple-R Reviews! Anyways, since that review I've discovered more and more to love about Interstellar every time I watch it, so I suspect this review will come across as much more enthusiastic!

Review- Interstellar launches audiences into a future where Earth is experiencing a global crop blight and a second Dust Bowl that are rendering the planet to be uninhabitable. When mysterious forces lead former NASA pilot Cooper to the secluded remnants of NASA, physicist Professor Brand informs Cooper there may be a way to save mankind. Ten years prior, NASA sent twelve landing pods to twelve potentially habitable worlds through a wormhole on a series of missions known as the Lazarus missions. Of the twelve sent, three promising worlds were discovered in one system. Cooper then joins the crew of the Endurance to travel through the wormhole to that system and identify which of those three planets would be optimal for human colonization.

Interstellar was directed by Christopher Nolan, who also cowrote the film's screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan. Interstellar was Nolan's ninth feature length film and his first project following the completion of the Dark Knight Trilogy, but Nolan's auteur fingerprints can still be found all over Interstellar. The film is just as emotionally and intellectually charged as the best of Nolan's work and even features one of his trademark ambiguous endings.

Interstellar's defining characteristic is its determination to tell a personal story on a universal scale. Nolan wisely waits to widen the scope of the character's circumstances till aptly investing audiences in the focal father/daughter relationship between Cooper and Murph. Only then, does Nolan up the ante. Cooper is presented with a monumental decision to choose between abandoning his kids in hopes of saving the human race and staying on Earth to raise his children at the risk of humanity's survival. Objectively, it'd be easy to pronounce a decision. However, in actuality, the alternatives bear fare more weight. By firmly establishing a steadfast bond between Cooper and Murph, the stakes have astronomically risen and audiences understand Cooper's trepidation as he journeys out into the great unknown. From that point onward, Interstellar's anecdotes revolve around perseverance in the face of the most improbable odds, proving that love is the only thing that truly capable of transcending time and space.

Technically, Interstellar is masterfully made in every way, shape, and form imaginable. The visual effects are not only awe-inspiring to look at, they also bestow an authenticity to the incredible and extensive fabric of space. In fact, I can't think of a single frame that looked as though it were captured inside a sound stage against a green screen background. In other departments, the film features stunning cinematography, intense editing, phenomenal production design, stirring sound editing and sound mixing, and another sensational score from Hans Zimmer. I'd daresay it's one of his best film scores to date because each composition not only suits the subsequent scenes, but also stands as an epic piece of music on its own merit. In fact, I often listen to themes from his Interstellar soundtrack because it can be soothing or simply provides a grandiose sound that's difficult to find elsewhere. 

Sure, the sequence inside the tesseract can be a bit of a head-scratcher on first viewing, but I've found it to make much more sense on subsequent rewatches. The sequence really serves as the lynch pin of the entire film, tying everything together remarkably well thematically and narratively. 

As for the cast, Matthew McConaughey turns in one of his most emotionally vulnerable performances yet as Cooper. McConaughey sells Cooper's warmth and trauma equally well with many of his scenes packing an emotional wallop. The sequence where he leaves his family is notably heart-wrenching, as well as one onboard the Endurance when he's watching video messages from his grown children. If neither of those bring you to tears, then you're simply not human. Mackenzie Foy and Timothée Chalamet also deserve some recognition for playing the younger versions of his two children, Murph and Tom. Foy, in particular, shows a lot of promise as an captivating child actor considering she's never overshadowed by McConaughey's larger-than-life screen presence in their scenes together. 

Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck lend themselves to playing the adult versions of Murph and Tom, and both are quite good, but Chastain takes the cake. Chastain expertly builds upon everything established by Foy and McConaughey to ensure the mature Murph is resolute, intelligent, and headstrong, but believably so. 

As for the crew of the Endurance, Anne Hathaway convincingly captures Brand's intellect and empathy while David Gyasi discerns Romilly with more cerebral sense.

Rounding out the Nolan regulars, Michael Caine offers a solemn, serene performance as Professor Brand with one scene in particular that really shows his acting talent beyond playing a sophisticated British man.  

Last but certainly not least, I must credit Bill Irwin for voicing and operating the hydraulics for the snarky tactical robot, TARS. I think the design of the robot is unique and impressive on its own, but I've found myself gravitating towards the robot every time I watch Interstellar thanks to Irwin's precise line delivery.

Perhaps, three years ago I would have told you that I merely enjoyed Interstellar for Nolan's astonishing craftsmanship and superb storytelling, but it's only now that I realize Interstellar is an film that will endure the test of time for its impeccable example of the resilience of the human spirit. It's emotional. It's intelligent. It's insightful. It's exceptional.

Film Assessment: A+

'The Huntsman: Winter's War' Review

The Huntsman: Winter's War is the prequel/sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman that nobody really asked for. For those of you that have read my Throwback Thursday Review of Snow White and the Huntsman, you know that I was very dissatisfied with it overall and sadly have to say that is indeed again the case. However with that all being said, I liked this slightly more than Snow White and the Huntsman. When it comes down to it, it's quite easy to see that the root of many of the storytelling issues present here derive from Kristen Stewart's unwillingness to return for another installment. The screen writers and creative team had to side step her character and distance her as much as possible from the events unfolding onscreen. This wasn't too bothersome as I'm not a big fan of Kristen Stewart in general but in order to keep her out of the film, the creative team had to go back and construct an abstract backstory for Huntsman in an attempt to shift the focus to his character. Unfortunately, this doesn't quite work as well as the creative team would have liked as I found myself much more interested in exploring some of the new characters. The production had been troubled from the start as Universal had difficulty finding a director to helm the project. The studio settled on the second unit director from Snow White and the Huntsman, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who had never directed a feature film before. I think Nicolas-Troyan has some serious issues with placing proper focus within a scene. Fantastical creatures would fly by and divert attention various times throughout the film. Occasionally during scenes of intense dialogue all emphasis would be placed on random fairy creatures, which was quite bothersome and unnecessary. In fact, I'd daresay it was a waste of the visual effects budget that would have been better spent on action sequences, not that the action looked bad. Actually, the action looked great! The fight choreography was entertaining and intense and you could actually see what was happening as none of the action happened too quickly, although there were a few slo-mo shots that I saw as unnecessary. The cinematographer captured some beautiful imagery throughout and gave the various sequences enough time to breathe and the audience to gaze upon. This helped the film feel much lighter and more colorful than Snow White and the Huntsman, that was certainly an improvement over it's bleak predecessor. The film has many attempts at humor, but falls flat on it's face with every joke. But the film's biggest problem was that it didn't provide a reason for me to be invested in any of the characters so I lost interest easily and almost fell asleep three or four times. And this is coming from someone who stays fairly attentive and almost never sleeps during a movie (especially in theaters). Every new character was a bore, the dwarves in particular. I won't even bother listing out the actors as they put forth little to no effort and the only interesting dwarves are taken out. The rest of the cast's performances range from not even trying to decent. Chris Hemsworth is back as the Huntsman, Eric, and this time around he's much more comfortable in the role as a more seasoned actor. Hemsworth fills the role with as much charisma as he possibly can making for a great lead. He once again has a wonky Scottish accent but he at least sticks with it throughout as in Snow White and the Huntsman he occasionally slipped out of it. Jessica Chastain is decent as the Huntsman's love interest, Sara,  but along those lines she and Chris Hemsworth had some very awkward romantic scenes that were a little too long. It wasn't the chemistry that made it weird but rather the awkward long silence of the two gazing at each other that could have easily been cut out. Chastain also had an Irish accent that was just atrocious. Emily Blunt is one of my favorite modern actresses but even I have to admit that her performance as Freya the Ice Queen was just awful. This role was far beneath her and I don't understand why she would take it but unfortunately she tends to end up in projects that bomb at the box office. Almost every line of dialogue was delivered with practically no emotion, but there were glimmers of potential sprinkled throughout as Blunt was terrific in the more emotionally heated scenes. Another returning actress is Charlize Theron and she was terrific in her six to seven minutes of screen time as she just epitomized villainy. However, almost all of her scenes were in the trailers so there wasn't any shock value to anything that happened involving her character. Sadly, the film was a disappointment as I hoped for significant improvements from Snow White and the Huntsman but only got slight improvements. In summation, the film is a snooze-fest that's probably just a waste of your time.

Film Assessment: D-

'The Martian' Review

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actor; Matt Damon, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.

The Martian is a phenomenal film and honestly one of the best movies I have seen all year! The Martian has an incredible cast, great visuals, production design, writing, directing and a compelling story. If I were to compare The Martian to the more recent space films Gravity and Interstellar, I would say I preferred it better than both. I wasn't really a fan of Gravity but I really did enjoy Interstellar and I think one of the things I loved about The Martian was the light tone and the humor in what should be a dark, desperate situation. It was a great contrast and something that was definitely missing from Gravity and Interstellar as both of those were darker films. However despite the light tone, the film was aware of when it needed to be serious and when Mark Watney, the astronaut stranded on Mars, was in a grave situation the film went to that dark place when necessary.  I really liked watching Watney adapt to all of the challenges that can happen in space and see him work to do what can be considered by many to be impossible. the way the story was crafted kept the film interesting and I was never bored despite the somewhat long runtime. Also there are a few fun references to Lord of the Rings and one to Iron Man that caught me by surprise as I didn't really expect the references but I did enjoy them. Ridley Scott did a great job bringing all of the elements of this film came together to make it quite enjoyable. The visuals were very beautiful yet felt real and at times I forgot the film wasn't actually filmed on Mars, which goes to show how great the production design, cinematography, and visual effects came together to create a realistic immersive film experience. The cast were all incredible and worked quite well together on screen but the standout was definitely Matt Damon. It was incredible to see him act alone and really convey what it would be like to wake up stuck on a planet far away from home. Damon did a great job channeling the attitude of the everyman astronaut that the audience can root for. I was very impressed with his performance but he had an incredible supporting cast that all worked well together and never overshadowed Damon. The supporting characters never felt like they were invading the story or felt unnecessary each really adding to the compelling story about trying to bring a man home. The all star cast composed of Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Jeff Daniels, Donald Glover, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, and Chiwetal Ejiofor really all added to the experience and created interesting supporting characters that felt necessary to the story. Overall, The Martian is an incredible must see film. If you feel that it looks too similar to either Gravity or Interstellar I can tell you that it is a completely different film with a different story, set of circumstances that I prefer to the latter.

Film Assessment: A-

'Interstellar' Review

Nominated for: Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Won: Best Visual Effects.

I saw Interstellar on Saturday, but thought I would wait till I was more caught up with my other reviews before posting my thoughts on the new Christopher Nolan film. Some say it's similar to Gravity, but it's very different, and I didn't really like Gravity so I thought this film was much better! While it seems like the response to this film has been mixed, I really enjoyed it! This is by no means Christopher Nolan's best film but in my opinion it's one of the better Nolan films. I have very few problems with the film, and wouldn't be surprised if it got at least a few technical nominations at the next Oscars. The acting in the film is great! Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain give great performances and Bill Irwin does some wonderful voice acting for a robot named Tars, who was probably one of my favorite characters in the film. Anne Hathaway had a small role but she did well with what she was given. However the film is almost 3 hours long, so it seems very long in some scenes. I have seen a lot of people complain about not understanding some of the science of the film or the ending, but I didn't have any problems with that aspect of the film and actually liked the ending! Overall this film is definitely worth the trip to the theater and if you have the chance, I'd see it in IMAX!