Category: Theaters

Over twenty years ago I took my little brother to the first Pokémon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back. Back then Pokémon was a fad; it was going to be a flash in the pan and then kids would be on to the next thing. Of course that did not happen. Pikachu is one of the most recognizable cartoon mascots in the world and Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a blockbuster with a massive $150 Million budget hoping to gross over $450 Million worldwide. Even more surprising? It is a good movie.

Detective Pikachu is about Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) who has to visit Ryme city to deal with his father’s recent death. His father Harry, a detective, died in a car crash, but things get complicated when Tim happens across a Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) he can understand that tells him Harry is alive and that they need to solve the mystery of why Harry’s death was faked to save his life.

Detective Pikachu has kind of been billed as Deadpool for kids and that makes sense considering they share a lead in Ryan Reynolds. However, while the jokes do come fast and furious at times, I would say these are still two very different films. Deadpool does have its charms and a bigger heart than most people give it credit for; Detective Pikachu is more of a sweet kids movie. Pikachu and Tim are earnestly looking to build connections in their lives and this movie is about their relationship.

While the base movie fine, the real stars of Detective Pikachu are the fully realized Pokémon. They look great and they act exactly like you would expect them to. In fact, I wish the movie was more about them. I know this is a common complaint for these types of movies – more Transformers in the Transformers movies, more Smurfs in the Smurfs movies, but the Pokémon are so good that it is hard not to want more time with them.

The biggest flaw with Detective Pikachu is that the story is pretty generic, but it is saved by charismatic leads and cute little monsters. If you don’t like Pokémon this movie may not work as well for you, but if like me you have been around the franchise for over twenty years it is a fun experience. It also seems to work for younger children as well, my five year old loved it, so it looks like a winner for families. I am ready for more live action Pokémon movies!

I have every belief that John Wick was supposed to be a one time low budget action movie, but with the hope that it would catch on like a revenge fueled Liam Neeson. Never in their wildest dreams did they think it would be a summer blockbuster, but here we are. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the first movie to take the number one box-office spot away from Avengers: Endgame, and it may hold its own against a slumping live action Aladdin this Memorial Day weekend. Why? Because it is awesome.

Much like John Wick: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 takes place moments after the last one ends. John Wick has been ousted from the Continental and declared excommunicado by the High Table. There is a massive bounty on his head, and he has one hour to make a plan to survive. The plan he comes up with involves killing a lot of people. So many people.

Much like Chapter 2, the story telling isn’t flawless. They explain too much of the lore surrounding the John Wick universe for my taste, and in order to explore that lore the movie takes a second act detour that ends up going nowhere. Had he not gone down that rabbit hole nothing would have changed, but it doesn’t matter much because they deliver on what the fans are in their seats for: none stop action.

There are so many amazingly choreographed action sequences it is hard to pick a favorite, and even if I could I wouldn’t spoil it for you. They say they got even more planed for Chapter 4, and I am here for it. John Wick: Chapter 2 upped the ante of the first John Wick, and now Chapter 3 (Parabellum) has upped it again. With the only let downs being the unwieldy name and some iffy plot points. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum may not be perfect, but it is more than worth your money.

It is hard to believe that Us is only the second movie that Jordan Peele has written and directed. He is already proving himself to be a master, and he has once again used the horror genre to shine a light social issues without being preachy. This time the focus shifts more to classism instead of racism, but not completely. However, if you are in the theater for thrills instead of sociology lessons, never fear, Us has them in spades.

Us is about a family on vacation at their summer home in the vicinity of Santa Cruz, CA, but instead of rest and relaxation, they are attacked by murderous doppelgangers of themselves. They will struggle to survive and keep to their family alive.

The first two thirds of Us are just about perfect. The building sense of dread, and the initial attack, but it falters a bit at the end. It explains the in universe origins of the doppelgangers a little too much. Horror works best as a nightmare with no explanation needed. Because once you start explaining things and adding logic to them it invites the minds of the viewers to start picking at the movie as well. Making the flaws a little more apparent, but honestly that is a nitpick. The film is fantastic otherwise.

The best part of Us is the performances. With each actor having two roles to play, and all of them doing a great job, but Lupita Nyong’o is the real standout. She manages to play off of herself brilliantly. Which I am guessing is not super easy to do. Elisabeth Moss gives a very fun performance as well. She was clearly having a lot of fun making this movie.

Us delivers chills and thrills a plenty, and quite a few good laughs. With just a small helping of social commentary. Like they say, “A spoonful of colored corn syrup helps sociology go down.” I can’t wait to see what Jordan Peele has next. If his first two movies are anything to go by it will be chilling and thought provoking.

If James Cameron is to be believed, the technology that he pioneered to create Avatar was so that he could make Alita: Battle Angel, based off the popular manga (Japanese comic) series Gunm (Alita: Battle Angel is its subtitle). However, Avatar got too big, and now the 800 sequels that he is writing and directing are taking up all his time, so he handed the job over to Robert Rodriguez. Who I will say did a commendable job, but the movie has its flaws.

Alita: Battle Angel is about a young cyborg (Rosa Salazar) that is pulled out of a trash heap by an old scientist/doctor named Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz). She doesn’t know who she is, or why she knows how to fight so well, but she is determined to find out, and maybe kick a little cyborg butt along the way.

Apparently, Rodriguez needed to comb through 600 pages of Cameron’s notes to turn Alita in to a shoot-able script. It suffers from being chopped down. There is a forgettable and pointless boyfriend (Keean Johnson), and it doesn’t have a complete story arc. The movie establishes Alita in the world and then gives her an objective. Then it ends. Fans have said this movie is true to the source material, and that makes sense, establishing the world, the characters, and the rules are usually what volume one of any comic books series is for, but I don’t think it works well for a movie.

Those two issues aside, the rest of the movie is pretty good. The cast is fantastic. I mean it has Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, and Jennifer Connelly. It also has whatever a Keean Johnson is, but it makes up for that with a Casper Van Dien. Rosa Salazar as the star is more than able to hold her own with all that talent, and it looks like she will have a bright future, but the real star of a James Cameron movie is always the effects, and Alita: Battle Angel has them in spades.

Everywhere you look there is something cool to see in Alita. It is full of awesome moments, and I am sure that it will end up in a lot of Blu-Ray collections so people can show off the advanced features of their TVs. It does fall in to uncanny valley at times, but it is mostly able suspend your disbelief.

Alita: Battle Angel is a fine opening movie to a series, but the problem is that we have no idea if Alita 2 is going to happen. It was an expensive movie to make, and its returns have so far been the minimum to show a profit. Plus, Disney is in the process of gobbling up Fox, so Alita might end up back on the trash heap. Its best hope is that James Cameron wants it to happen, and James Cameron usually gets what he wants. As it stands by itself, it is a passible action movie, with great special effects. I had fun, but don’t expect Alita to be a game changer.