Category Archives: Fantasy

Avatar: Fire and Ash

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Avatar: Fire and Ash        3 stars

As incredible as it sounds it has now been seventeen years since James Cameron brought us Avatar, his spectacular CGI-3D movie about the blue-skinned inhabitants of a distant planet called Pandora and the efforts of humans to dominate and exploit it for its natural resources. The humans developed a technology that allowed them to blend in with the alien race in copies of their bodies. Then in 2022, came Avatar: The Way of Water, which followed a family of the Na’vi race who flee from their own tribe and come to live with the Metkayina, another tribe that has a close relationship with the sea and the creatures that dwell there. Both movies were noted for their colorful and overwhelming special effects using body capture technology and their tales of exploitation of native cultures by a technologically superior race in the search for valuable resources (an indictment of corporate greed). Cameron’s latest incarnation, Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story, with most of the same characters and the same astounding special effects of the first two films. We follow Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the fearless Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family through family drama, their dealings with their Metkayina hosts, adventures with some incredible animal inhabitants and the inevitable conflict with their human pursuers, who seem to never learn from their past experiences. Meanwhile, Jake’s enemy, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), has not given up on tracking down Jake, who he regards as a traitor for “going native”. (You may remember that Jake and Quaritch were both humans who now inhabit Na’vi bodies, able to breathe the air of Pandora that is toxic to humans.) The movie feels like it has little to add to the story, featuring much of the same conflicts and action that we’ve seen before despite its three and a quarter hour running time. One very notable addition though is the villain, Varang, who leads her tribe, the Mangkwan, who prey on the vulnerabilities of other Na’vi tribes and steal whatever things of value they can find. Varang is ruthless and smart as well, able to adapt to new situations. It doesn’t take long for her to see the value in allying herself with the vengeful Quaritch. Oona Chaplin is perfect for the role of this native leader. (Chaplin is the granddaughter of the legendary Charlie Chaplin.) Overall, this third iteration seems like more of the same including the relentless greed of the humans and the spirituality of the native Na’vi. Of course, the movie did not need to be nearly this long. The word is that James Cameron is planning on two more movies in this series (each probably over three hours). I feel that the story has been played out and it is time to move on to something else. We will see if he follows through on this plan.
 

Little

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Little                      3 stars

For a film on the light side you can see Little, a comedy produced by and starring teen actor Marsai Martin from Black-ish.  Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) runs her own company and is a tyrant in doing so.  Her employees including assistant April (Issa Rae) are run ragged trying to satisfy Jordan’s wishes.  That is until a little girl uses her magic powers to turn Jordan into her thirteen year old self (Marsai Martin) putting her back in middle school.  As fantastic as this turn of events seems it doesn’t take long for the characters to accept it as the new reality.  Despite being so young again Jordan still seems to see the world through her adult eyes and strives to manipulate people into doing her bidding.  The film certainly has its funny moments and some great music, but the story is unconvincing.

Downsizing

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Downsizing         2 stars

I saw two movies recently that can be classified as social satires, one of which was very well done and the other while having great intensions falls far short.  Downsizing, from 2017 takes place in the near future when a technology is discovered that allows people to be shrunk in size to only a few inches tall.  The promise is that this will save the planet from environmental catastrophe by reducing the human footprint and allow people to live in luxury in a place called Leisure Land because their cost of living is reduced to a tiny fraction of normal.  It stars Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig as the couple willing to embark on this adventure when he becomes disillusioned with his job.  The movie has a few funny moments but loses its satiric edge as it seeks to deliver a message on the inequalities of this new world and the dangers of overconsumption.  By the end of the movie I just wanted to say: Ok I get it. There are always injustices in the world!  The movie was by director Alexander Payne who in the past has given us great movies like “Sideways” and “The Descendants”.  Something did not go well with the idea for Downsizing.

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse                 4 stars

The Lighthouse is a very dark moody horror film that follows the interactions of two lightkeepers who must work together on an isolated island somewhere in New England in the 1890’s.  This film is by the horror movie master, Robert Eggers who made The Witch a couple of years ago.  This movie may not have quite the supernatural elements that that excellent horror movie did, but certainly scores on its hopeless mood using black and white filming, a smaller screen and some very mournful music and sound effects.  The two actors portraying the lightkeepers give us amazing performances.  Willem Dafoe is the aging experienced man who gives the orders, instructing the younger worker, Robert Pattinson in some of the worst back breaking, miserable work you can imagine.  Both give us haunting and masterful performances.  If there were an Oscar for the best curses uttered by an actor, Dafoe would win easily.  The story centers on the conversations and interactions between the two men as they alternate from hating each other to showing genuine concern for one another.  But ultimately the movie is about a slow descent into madness with a few fantasy elements thrown in.  It is up to the viewer to interpret what these fantasy scenes are about.  And since it is a horror movie there are some very unsettling scenes involving human bodily functions and sexual images.  This film is definitely a downer about humans in a deteriorating situation, but does it in a most impressive manner.  It is not a movie for everyone.

KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters                     4 ½ stars

I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about for the Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters, so I viewed it months after it was in theaters and viewed by record crowds. I know very little about KPop, having some awareness of BTS but that is about it. The movie is very colorful and action packed, following a very popular female musical trio called Huntrix, voiced by Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo and May Hong. The story is rather light with the premise being that there are demons trying to get into the souls of music fans by means of capturing them with popular tunes. Huntrix can resist the threat with their own popular tunes as long as they can write and perform the best songs for their fans. The problem for them happens when the main demon character comes up with a scheme to defeat Huntrix by enlisting a boy band that challenges them to a competition to become more popular with their fans. At least that is what I took from it. The real entertainment comes from the very catchy and upbeat tunes in the movie. These include their top hit, Golden. (I kept hearing it in my head for days afterward.) So, if you are ready for some rather mindless entertainment, you should see it. Then you can understand what all the kids are excited about. I understand that it broke the box office record for animated movies. And it is sure to receive an Academy Award nomination for Animated Film and probably will win.

Mirai

Mirai                      2 ½ stars

Mirai is a Japanese animated movie that came out last year by anime director Mamoru Hosoda.  The story is about a young boy of 5 or 6 who has to deal with the addition of a baby sister to the family, one that he has a hard time accepting.  There is a lot of misbehaving on the part of young Kun until he is visited by the young teenage version of his little sister who guides him through some odd crisis with his family.  He is also visited by the human version of the family dog who joins in the adventures.  Kum also goes through some other strange adventures when he leaves the house and encounters people that have key roles in his life.  I haven’t seen any of Hosoda’s previous work but I wasn’t thrilled by the story of a little boy who is something of a brat and is slow to respect others in his family.  It’s not up to the level of work by Hayao Miyazaki who brought us Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and The Wind Rises.  Those were truly exceptional animated movies that I still remember.  Animation is a way to tell a story with some very fantastic elements that can’t be done with live action.  I hope that Hosoda can succeed in coming up with some truly fantastic stories with a moral message.

In Your Dreams

In Your Dreams                 4 stars

From Netflix comes the new animated film, In Your Dreams, that follows the adventures of twelve-year-old Stevie and her little brother Elliot as they venture into the world of dreams. This film arrives after Netflix’s wildly successful KPop Demon Hunters and may not have nearly its marketing or its originality of music, but it does have an impactful message that will appeal to a wide audience. Viewers of course will recognize some favorite tunes in the film including Mr. Sandman, Sweet Dreams and Enter Sandman that are woven into the story. Stevie seems to have a near perfect life with her two parents (Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti) but must put up with annoying little Elliot who came along a few years after her. She becomes concerned when there are signs of trouble in her parents’ marriage and she fears they could split up. One day the siblings discover an old book in a thrift store titled Legend of the Sandman, that tells about the Sandman who can make dreams come true if they believe in him. The two of them try out the instructions in the book and upon falling asleep, they enter the bizarre world of dreams where objects come to life, such as a bed they ride like a horse, breakfast cereal and Elliot’s favorite toy Baloney Tony, a stuffed giraffe who spouts wisecracks (played by Craig Robinson). The promise is that if they can find the Sandman he could make dreams come true and for Stevie this is getting her parents to stay together. The problem is they have to face dangerous situations in the dream land without waking up, something that proves very difficult. In one scene they must do battle with a giant teddy bear. It is all rather amusing but could have the potential of scaring young children. When they finally do find the Sandman (Omid Djalili) he shows them that if they can stay asleep long enough their dream can become reality, so Stevie is determined to make this work. And it does for a while; that is, until it all seems too good to be true. They also meet Nightmara, the creator of nightmares who tells the children that nightmares are there to help us face the bad things in life, but the Sandman wanted to avoid them and make dreams pleasant instead. The movie becomes a life lesson in facing the things that make life difficult and loving each other in spite of the problems that go with being part of a family. There is plenty of color and high intensity action as well as occasional fart jokes that should entertain the youngsters. At an hour and a half, it is about the right length. The writer/director is Alex Woo who previously worked for Pixar. This is his first effort in the director’s chair and I hope we see more to come from his vivid imagination. The movie is available on Netflix.

Cats

Cats                                       1 ½ stars

I am sure that everyone has heard about the screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Cats that recently hit theaters.  There has been plenty of controversy about it mainly about the CGI effects making the cast look like some sort of human-cat hybrids.  So I had to see it for myself and it was something of a shock.  There are plenty of stars on the screen in a story that is confusing at best.  I will try to give some description of what is going on.  The story concerns a tribe of cats called the Jellicles that hang out around an abandoned theater in London.  One night a new cat called Victoria portrayed by ballerina Francesca Hayward, is tossed on the street where she is introduced to an array of felines that all have their own stories.  It happens to be the annual night of the Jellicle Ball when the old cat Deuteronomy (Dame Judy Dench) makes the choice of which of the eligible cats is worthy to be chosen to ascend into the Heaviside Layer and be rewarded with a new life.  Each of the possible choices gets a featured performance involving music and dance which includes Rebel Wilson’s fat and comical Jennyanydots, James Cordon’s Bustopher Jones, Jason Derulo’s Rum Tum Tugger, Ian McKellen’s Gus the Theater Cat (in one of the best performances), Jennifer Hudson’s Grizabella, who sings the powerful “Memory” and Laurie Davidson as the classic Mr. Mistoffelees, the mysterious magical cat.  Unfortunately, there is a scheming villain, the evil Macavity (Idres Elba) who uses his magic powers to exile each of the felines onto a boat in the Thames where his henchman Growitiger (Ray Winstone) holds them all prisoner.  This way Macavity plans to be the one to achieve the coveted Heaviside Layer for himself.  Macavity is enabled by his associate, Bombalurina, a wily cat played by Taylor Swift who puts her own spell on the Jellicles using her own brand of catnip.  Can the Jellicles overcome these magic spells and defeat Macavity?  By this time does anybody care?  The CGI costumes are very distracting with the cat ears, cat tails and other features applied to the cast.  And then there are the miniature creatures featuring dancers representing the mice and cockroaches that the cats are hungry for.  I felt the film may have had more success if it was just treated as a stage production on film without all the special effects.  They could have saved themselves a lot of money besides.  So now you know what Cats is all about.  Now you will be able to save yourselves the torture of enduring this mad spectacle.

Wendy

Wendy  5 Suns 

Wendy is a reimagining of the J. M. Barrie Peter Pan story this time in a modern setting and told through the eyes of Wendy.  Wendy and her brothers are raised by their working class mother who works in a diner.  One day the three children sneak onto a passing train where they meet a strange headstrong boy named Peter.  He brings them to his island hideaway where he and the other children have their own world free of grownups.  Peter seems to have his own magic that originates from the island’s volcano and a mysterious sea creature.  But soon trouble finds them in the form of several older adults who gain control of an old ship and then try to capture the children,  leaving it up to Peter and Wendy to come to the rescue.  The imagery of the island environment is breathtaking and the performances of the children are impressive.  The director,  Benh Zeitlin previously made Beasts of the Southern Wild.  He was present for Q & A and spoke of the challenges of working on the island with an active volcano as well as what it was like working with children of ages 6 to 9. He said the key to succeeding with children was to make sure it was a fun experience for them.  Children are not in it for the money or the fame. Wendy is currently in the theaters so be sure to see it and you can bring some kids with you. 

Jumbo

Jumbo     3 stars (or suns in Sundance World)

Jumbo,  from Belgium by director Zoe Wittock tells us the story of a young withdrawn woman who lives with her very outspoken mother.  Jeanne is very shy and has trouble relating to men.  Her mother seems determined to do something about that.  Jeanne works in an amusement park as part of the cleanup crew. We find she has a certain fascination with the rides as she builds models of them out of pieces of metal and wire.  However, there is one particular ride she is fascinated by where the riders rotate in multiple directions that goes by the name of Move It. Jeanne’s name for it is Jumbo. She is so enamored by the ride that she imagines it has a soul and that it is something she can have a sexual relationship with.  So you can see it is your classic romance of girl meets machine,  girl gets machine,  girl loses machine,  then finally girl gets machine back.  It is certainly an odd movie and one hard to relate to. The filmmaker said she has been working on the movie for eight years and got the idea when she saw a story about a woman who “married” the Eiffel Tower.  The movie was done well enough with some excellent acting which helps make up for the very unconventional story.