Disney continues to warm us up for their summer movie lineup, this time by releasing a new trailer for “Jungle Cruise”. Our new look at this big-budgeted blockbuster that’s based on a popular Disneyland theme park ride looks like it wants to be this generation’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The trailer looks, feels, and plays like those Jerry Bruckheimer produced flicks. And just like “Pirates”, it puts a lot on the massive shoulders of a wildly charismatic lead.
“Jungle Cruise” sees Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a beefy riverboat captain and Emily Blunt as a scientist traveling down the treacherous Amazon in search of the Tree of Life. The tree is believed to have healing powers which could revolutionize modern medicine. But as we see in the trailer, there are countless dangers awaiting including a hilariously devious Jesse Plemons playing the villain. Johnson is a big personality but Blunt can match him step-for-step. Together they make a fascinating and fun pair. Hopefully there’s enough originality to the story to make it more than just “Pirates” in a new setting.
“Jungle Cruise” releases July 30th in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Three troubled teens unload years of pent-up rage over 48 hours of drugs, violence, and mayhem in “Gully”, the first narrative feature film from director Nabil Elderkin. Best known for his Hip Hop and R&B music videos for big acts like Kanye West, John Legend, and The Black Eyes Peas, Elderkin teams with screenwriter Marcus J. Guillory to tell an inner-city story with big aspirations that it never quite reaches.
The three close friends at the film’s center seem doomed from the first moment we meet them. Calvin (Jacob Latimore) is a charismatic kid with a mental health condition who routinely skips out on his medication despite the pleas of his concerned mother (Robin Givens). Jesse (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) is quiet and full of pain which he keeps bottled up and hidden even from his two buddies. Nicky (Charlie Plummer) witnessed unspeakable violence as a child and while we get glimpses of a playful and carefree exterior, especially at home with his addict single mother (Amber Heard), inside he’s a swirl of volatility just waiting to implode.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
The movie works overtime stacking the deck against these kids. Abuse, poverty, no real father-figures – just a few of the things touched on to show the hard lives they’ve had. They’re essentially abandoned, stripped of any childhood, trapped within their rough Los Angeles neighborhood, and left to exist by the dictates of an uncaring and unreliable culture and society. The problem is the destructive elements that have led to their delinquency are never examined the way they should be. Instead the film is content with wedging in a brief scene here and there in an effort to earn our sympathies. It helps us to understand the boys better, but not enough for us to like them the way the movie wants us to.
Elderkin seems far more interested in soaking us in the debauchery and violence than exploring its root causes. This leads to a frustratingly muddled messaging. I don’t want to say the film glamorizes their sordid behavior, but there are scenes where it certainly comes close. And their sudden shift from mischievous juveniles to violent criminals comes without so much as an explanation. One second they’re letting out their rage and angst through a Grand Theft Auto styled video game. The next scene they’re beating a complete stranger to a pulp and stealing his truck. And it only gets worse from there. Are we supposed to excuse it all simply because a handful of brief scenes show the three were dealt bad hands? The movie never finds that much needed balance.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Strangely there’s another running story that almost feels like it’s own thing. In it we see a terrific Jonathan Majors playing a recent parolee determined to live straight. In many ways his story is the most interesting and watching his character reacclimate to neighborhood life is more compelling than anything the three teens do. Sadly his story never really goes anywhere and it’s connection to the main story is minimal at best. We also get Terrence Howard randomly popping up as a homeless street profit who pushes his shopping cart around and speaks incoherent musings on street life. It’s a thankless role.
Nearly every facet of “Gully” works noticeably hard to be as gritty as possible – the dialogue, the direction, even the performances. It’s unfortunate because it handcuffs the three terrific young leads who otherwise do the best they can with what they’re given. As a director, Elderkin knows his way around with the camera and there are a number of striking images and visual choices to prove it. But overall it’s hard to figure out exactly what the movie is saying. Is it speaking out against violent video games? Is it a warning that violence begets violence? Is it just another story about hard times in inner-city neighborhoods? It touches on all of that and more but never with enough conviction. So we’re left with a lot of questions and too many ideas that never get the full treatment they deserve. “Gully” opens in select theaters June 4th and on VOD June 8th.
Now here’s a movie title that grabs your attention! “Gunpowder Milkshake” is an upcoming action-thriller-comedy from Israeli filmmaker Navot Papushado. It has a tantalizing cast that includes Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Paul Giamatti, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, and more. The film was snatched up by Netflix and has all the feel of a John Wick inspired shoot-em-up but with a few very noticeable twists. Hopefully those twists are enough to make this feel like it’s own thing.
I love seeing Karen Gillan getting starring roles and here she plays an assassin who killed “the wrong people” in order to save an 8-year-old girl. Soon there is an open contract out on her so she seeks the help of her mother (Headey), a fellow assassin who hasn’t seen her daughter in 15 years. The bullet-riddled first trailer shows action aplenty and a cracking sense of humor. You can’t help but recognize the movies it’s imitating, but the fun female led cast will hopefully give the film some extra spark. I’ll certainly be giving it a go.
“Gunpowder Milkshake” premieres July 14th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
When reading reviews of the new horror film “The Resort” I doubt you’ll hear many critics praising it as original, fresh, or innovative. That’s because this watchable yet unremarkable indie is nothing horror fans haven’t seen many times before. Even worse, it’s hamstrung by a tiny budget and hampered by a script that doesn’t have enough ideas of its own to fill the movie’s lean 70-minute running time. It does eventually find its footing but only in the final fifteen minutes or so. By that time I’m guessing a lot of people will have already checked out.
“The Resort” is written and directed by Taylor Chien. It’s simple horror premise goes like this: four friends venture to an abandoned Hawaiian resort that locals believe is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Right out of the gate a story like this comes with a certain degree of baked-in predictably. We know going to the resort is a bad idea. We know the cheerful chums are in for a terrifying surprise. And we have a good idea that not all will make it out alive. So it’s up to the filmmaker and his cast to make this fairly routine horror concept interesting. It can be done, but sadly Chien and company miss their mark.
Image Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
As you might expect, “The Resort” gives us four of the horror genre’s most overused character types: the serious girl Lex (Bianca Haase), the hot blonde Bree (Michelle Randolph), the hunk Chris (Brock O’Hurn), and obnoxious loudmouth Sam (Michael Vlamis). To be fair the film does offer a couple of welcomed variations to them. For example, Chris is pretty humble and level-headed despite looking like a cover model for a Harlequin novel. And while the occasional ogling from the camera might say different, Bree isn’t the prototypical lustful hottie.
But don’t mistake those slight deviations as equalling good characters. To the film’s credit it tries to give them some depth, mainly during its draggy first 45 minutes when the group arrives at the island and then makes the hike to the resort. Along the way we learn Lex is doing research for a horror novel. Chris has the hots for her. Bree has a deep affection for selfies. And in addition to being annoying, Sam has an endless supply of booze. They all take time to share their thoughts on the paranormal and supernatural, but there’s really nothing to them for us to cling to. The characters are shallow, the performances are rough, and at times their dialogue can be hopelessly cringy.
Image Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
It takes a while, but the group FINALLY arrives at the once luxurious resort. After some ill-advised exploring and some obligatory carelessness, the four encounter the spirit known as the Half-Faced Girl. Outside of one brief exposition dump, we never learn much about the ghastly apparition and we don’t spend enough time with her to understand how or why she does what she does. There is one really cool and creepy horror bit nestled in that final act. But it’s swallowed up by the film’s murky and uninspired ending that left me with even more questions than before.
The positive side of me likes to think there is a good movie trapped somewhere inside of “The Resort”. Yet I’m having a hard time convincing myself. It’s basically a well-worn idea without an ounce of new flavor. Everything in it has been done before and done better. And when you mix in bland characters, a shallow script, and practically no scares whatsoever it’s hard to find much to recommend. “The Resort” is now available on VOD.
A couple days ago we got our first look at the inevitable sequel to 2019’s low budget but highly profitable “Escape Room”. That film was an overly simplistic yet mildly entertaining horror thriller that eventually ran out of steam before completely flying off the rails in its attempt at setting up a sequel. Now we get the hilariously titled follow-up “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” which looks to be equally silly horror-lite escapism. The film sees the return of director Adam Robitel along with star Taylor Russell.
The first trailer all but promises more of the same as Russell’s character is once again thrust into a series of lethal escape rooms. Once inside she and the new group of victims must solve each puzzle in order to get out of the room alive. Then it’s on to the next one. This time around the rooms look more elaborate and interesting (though undeniably ridiculous). Hopefully this time there is a better story thread to hold everything together. If it manages that this could be a fairly fun diversion. But I’m not getting my hopes up.
“Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” opens in theaters July 16th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
A lot of people were caught off-guard by 2018’s terrific “A Quiet Place”. Director, co-writer, and star John Krasinski not only put together one of the best horror movies in recent years, but he made a touching family story that really hit this father-of-two right in the feels. The modestly budgeted chiller was both a hit with critics and a box office smash for Paramount. And while a sequel wasn’t originally planned, the first film’s success eventually led to Krasinski putting ideas together for a follow-up. Soon he was hired to both write and direct the film.
“A Quiet Place Part II” is a sequel in the literal sense but it’s more of a direct continuation of the first film. It takes no time for Krasinski to pull his audience right back into his tense and terrifying world. And while it lacks the intimacy of its predecessor, the story’s chief focus remains on the tight-knit Abbott family. Emily Blunt returns as Evelyn who’s still reeling from the death of her husband Lee (Krasinski’s character) yet is determined to protect her kids at any cost. Millicent Simmonds is back as Evelyn’s deaf daughter Regan and Noah Jupe reprises his role as her son Marcus.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
The film opens with a fantastic flashback sequence showing the day that the blind but hyper-sound-sensitive alien creatures first arrived and began savagely attacking humanity. Krasinski wisely doesn’t get bogged down in the details, instead showing the chaos that follows from the terrified Abbott family’s perspective. The sequence makes for a perfect reintroduction to the characters. And the impeccable mix of camerawork, sound design, and editing create the kind of nail-biting tension that will run throughout the film’s taut 97-minute runtime.
After the title card we move ahead 474 days to the scene that ended the first film. Evelyn, the resilient Regan, the timid younger Marcus, and newborn baby leave their farm after taking out the creatures who killed the family’s patriarch Lee. With the house in shambles the remaining Abbotts are forced to relocate, hoping to find other survivors who can take them in. After several miles of walking they run into an old friend of Lee’s named Emmett (Cillian Murphy) who’s holed up in a rusted-out steel mill. Emmett isn’t keen to help them at first, having lost his own family and essentially given up hope. He’s a tragic character and a nice fit with the story.
One of the things I love most is that Lee’s death hasn’t been forgotten. In fact it’s woven into much of this film. It’s seen most in Regan who becomes more and more like her father as the story progresses. She has his smarts, stubbornness, and ingenuity. It’s how she learned that pairing her cochlear implant with a portable guitar amp can emit a high-frequency screech that hurts the creatures. And it’s what drives her (against her mother’s wishes) to venture off on her own to try and reach the source of a radio signal that she can use to broadcast the screech to other survivors. Simmonds is a star, deaf from birth but using her impairment as a strength. She’s very much a co-lead, full of grit and determination. It’s such a good performance.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
For the most part the action plays out on two fronts (and for a brief time three). Evelyn stays at the steel mill to protect Marcus and the baby while Emmett is convinced to go out and find Regan who is on her own in a perilous world filled with dangers of both the alien and human kind. A couple of cheap jump scares aside, Krasinski’s smart and effective ‘less-is-more’ approach allows us to watch, anticipate, and experience ourselves. And clever touches such as utilizing silence to unsettle his audience is a big reason why Krasinski can still wring a steady stream of edge-of-your-seat suspense out of his simple yet gripping premise.
Where the first film left the door open for a potential sequel, this film all but confirms there will be a third installment. Its abrupt ending leaves several glaring questions. It’s hardly a graceful finish and one of the only places where Krasinski doesn’t quite hit his mark. And as he broadens his world inevitable questions pop up, mostly about the creatures. One way he gets around it is by always seeing things from the family’s perspective. As their knowledge is limited, so is ours. But the former star of “The Office“ and real-life husband to Emily Blunt puts his money on the audience being onboard and along for the ride. And when that ride is this thrilling and the characters this appealing, those aforementioned questions become less and less significant. “A Quiet Place Part II” opens today (May 28th) in theaters.
Keith & the Movies 