Jungle Cruise Review

Jungle Cruise

Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti

2h 7m

 

My first ride, on my first trip to Disneyland, was The Jungle Cruise.  The mechanical boat tour into the Amazon was pure joy. The scary rhino, the underwater hippos, and the mysterious 8th wonder of the world all combined for a magical experience. It was fun, exciting, humorous, and very silly.

 

The same can be said of director Jaume Collet-Serra's harmless "Jungle Cruise," a sometimes amusing and completely summer popcorn-worthy journey into the Disney ride adaptations. Part "Pirates of the Caribbean," part "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Jungle Cruise" wears its influences proudly on its sleeve. It even features not one but two charming heroic leads pushing the film forward. 

 

Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) is a reckless and confident explorer trying to lead an expedition into the Amazon to find a powerful secret deep in the jungle. With the help of her brother McGregor (Jack Whitehall), Lily must steal an ancient arrowhead stone to find the path to the old treasure. Traveling from England to South America, Lily and McGregor need a boat and a captain to make their journey. They find help from Skipper Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson), a hustling tour guide who owes money to a grumpy riverboat dealer (Paul Giamatti). Skipper Frank cons Lily and McGregor into hiring him, unaware that the dangerous German Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons) is hot on their trail. The hunt for the secret treasure leads all groups into a supernatural conflict with the cursed ancient conquistador Aguirre (Édgar Ramírez). 

 

 

Amid a story combining a bevy of complicated and distracting influences, "Jungle Cruise" maintains much of its momentum because of the chemistry and charisma between Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson. Their banter, wisecracks, and insults are humorous and add an element of fun to almost every scene. Jesse Plemons and Jack Whitehall are also good in supporting roles. Plemons, with a thick accent, chews up the scenery with glee. Whitehall, with a haughty attitude and a trail of suitcases in tow, shines consistently. 

 

The story struggles to keep up with the many other stories it's trying to tell. Aguirre, composed of snakes, and his undead jungle inhabited conquistadors, are trying to break their curse. Prince Joachim travels in a submarine and wants to rule the world. Add Skipper Frank and Lily's combined, and sometimes different, motivations to find the treasure, and "Jungle Cruise" gets lost on its journey. 

 

"Jungle Cruise" doesn't do anything completely different from other Disney adventures of recent memory, but that doesn't keep it from having a whole lot of fun. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt keep the cruise cruising for over 2 hours. Their chemistry is infectious. "Jungle Cruise" is fun, a popcorn film with a little bit of everything for viewers looking for a nice summer cinema distraction. 

 

Monte's Rating

3.00 out of 5.00

A Quiet Place Part II Review

A Quiet Place Part II

Dir: John Krasinski

Starring: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou, and John Krasinski

1 hr 37 min

 

In the beginning moments of John Krasinski's A Quiet Place Part II we are placed in the past, on Main Street somewhere in Small-town, U.S.A. The Abbott family gathers at a Little League game for Marcus (Noah Jupe), who tentatively stands in batting position while fastballs whiz past him. Lee (John Krasinski) arrives a little late to the game, having to stop at a general store for snacks before sitting atop the bleachers with his daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds). Suddenly, something strange happens; a large fiery object explodes and streaks across the cloudy skyline as the crowd scatters in confusion. Alien creatures crash onto the scene, smashing into vehicles and chasing down running humans. It's chaotic, scary, and emotional. It's also cinematic, a brilliantly executed introduction for this exciting sequel.   

 

In A Quiet Place, the tension-filled horror origin story, the Abbott's survived the creature invasion by building a shelter, growing their food, and using sign language (their oldest child Regan is deaf) to communicate with each other. The arrival of a newborn baby, a brilliant character to introduce into a world that is ultimately supposed to remain silent, and the domino effect of decisions that call the monsters into play leads the family to abandon their shelter. Lee, making the heroic sacrifice, saves his children from death by offering himself to the alien beings. 

 

A Quiet Place Part II takes place immediately following the events of the previous film. Evelyn (Emily Blunt) leads her children from their home and into the wilderness towards a signal fire that serves as the only beacon of hope for the mourning and traumatized family. Evelyn plays the role of sole protector for her family, carrying a newborn across her chest and trying to instill a level of comfort and safety for her older children. Emily Blunt is excellent in this role, combining emotions of disbelief and grief with grit and tenacity in the face of everything that is falling to pieces. 

 

Krasinski demonstrates with this film a keen understanding of horror characteristics and, most impressively, the expectations that smart movie fans have for the genre. On numerous occasions, Krasinski will indicate that a scare is coming, whether through framing, with the exceptional immersive sound design, or with a shadow that feels out of place. Then, just as the audience thinks they grasp what is coming or how it might present, the big scare will come from a different location or with a different emotional emphasis. 

 

Krasinski, who also wrote the film, does this manipulation of expectations with the narrative also. There is a sense of where this story is going, but figuring out how the start will meet the finish is composed of ingenious trips and traps. However, beyond these finely tuned moments of tension and terror is where Krasinski shines with the narrative, with the story of parents and children and the roles that shift and emerge as they continually grow in the apocalyptic landscape. The young actors Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe do a great job of embodying their characters' contrasting emotions at the beginning of the film. Where one is strong-willed and impulsive, the other is timid and cautious. As the film moves into a place where the children must fight for their future, the young characters become the focus of the action. It's an interesting transition that separates the sequel from its predecessor.

 

A Quiet Place Part II has a few noise-induced jump scares but again establishes its horror focus with a motive of tension-building driven by character and the bonds formed between them. There are only a few moments when the film loses track of its emotional core, mainly when the family must separate, but Krasinski masks this issue by ramping up the action and tension. When three separate stories converge during the finale, it's wholly cinematic and will have you on the edge of your seat. 

Monte's Rating

4.00 out of 5.00

Mary Poppins Returns Review

Mary Poppins Returns

Dir: Rob Marshall

Starring: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Wishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, and Colin Firth

The moment a group of lamplighters, led by the talented Lin-Manuel Miranda, start dancing with whirlwind choreographed precision and singing a memorable, foot-tapping number called “Trip a Little Light Fantastic”, it’s easy to remember that Disney has been crafting these sorts of unforgettable sequences consistently throughout its storied career. “Mary Poppins”, made in 1964 and Disney’s first film to receive an Academy Award for Best Picture, is one of the most iconic live-action films in the Disney catalog. Julie Andrews, in her feature film debut, and Dick Van Dyke are exceptional in the roles, even still today. 

“Mary Poppins Returns”, a direct sequel, is guided by Rob Marshall, a director who has some experience bringing musicals to life on film with the 2002 Academy Award Best Picture winner “Chicago” and the 2014 crowd pleaser “Into the Woods”. Taking the role of the affable Mary Poppins is Emily Blunt, who does a surprisingly good job of filling the gigantic shoes left by Julie Andrews by making the role her own, and offering support is the multi-talented artist Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is completely amusing every time he is on screen. “Mary Poppins Returns” doesn’t try anything completely new here, which is unfortunately felt in some spaces, but instead focuses on honoring the past in numerous ways. 

Michael (Ben Wishaw) and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer), the youngsters from the first time Mary Poppins came to visit, are all grown-up and leading very responsible lives. Michael works at a bank and has three little children (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson), Jane is a union organizer during this Great Depression time who has made a significant point in helping her brother who is grieving after the death of his wife. Things aren’t going great for the Bank’s family, money is running low and their house is being sought after by a greedy bank owner (Colin Firth). But just as things are about to get worse, an unexpected visitor from the past arrives to help the family.

“Mary Poppins Returns” is doing its best job of paying homage to the original classic. The structure of the story is very familiar and mostly unsurprising; the original film casts a long shadow and this sequel tries its best to stay within its shade. This makes for a story that never quite finds its own unique path or creates much of its own emotional connection with its new audience. Still, there are some really interesting moments that distract from these concerns, specifically when Mary Poppins guides the youngsters into fun environments or into situations with amusing characters like Cousin Topsy played with scene-stealing glee by Meryl Streep.

The classic cut-in animation is still represented and, in a very pleasant surprise, is utilized in a unique and effective way. Rob Marshall has a talent for engaging movement within in the frames of his films, here blending different aspects of animation makes for some really engaging images that are interesting to watch. In one of the best scenes of the film, the characters walk into an animated world similar to one directly from Disney’s early cartoon genesis. 

The musical numbers are filled with pure Disney cheer and joy. While some of the songs may not have the staying power like the ones from the original, the themes “Nowhere to Go But Up” and “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” are still being hummed weeks after seeing the movie. 

“Mary Poppins Returns” doesn’t tell a new story as much as it honors everything from the past. Nostalgia is a powerful tool and for many fans, this spoonful of sugary nostalgia will be a memorable ride.

Monte’s Rating

3.75 out of 5.00

A Quiet Place Review

A Quiet Place

Dir: John Krasinski

Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, and Millicent Simmonds

If you live in or near the city, go outside and listen to the world. There is constantly some kind of noise humming about in the atmosphere. When you venture into nature or far outside of the city limits, the quiet can be comforting. However, I also think that it can be somewhat unnerving and lonesome. 

Silence is a powerful tool in cinema, it can heighten a scene of drama, play a critical role for a punchline in comedy, or rattle the nerves in horror films. Alfred Hitchcock was a master of using silence to heighten suspense to effectively craft perfect horror scenes. Think about the moments of silence in “Psycho” or the wordless moment in “The Man Who Knew Too Much”; Hitchcock understands that silence, in its many different forms, is one of the most effective tools in a filmmakers skill set.

John Krasinski, famously of “The Office” television show, writes and directs the new horror film “A Quiet Place”. Playing with silence as the tool for tension, Mr. Krasinski crafts an exceptional horror film that utilizes an effective arrangement of classic horror movie tropes and setups to make a simplistic premise pulse with suspense.

Lee (John Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt), like most parents, only want to protect their kids Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Regan (Millicent Simmonds) from the perils of the world; however the world they live in makes this a very difficult task. This family, who communicate with sign language and walk barefoot through their desolate home in the forest, has survived the threat of extinction at the hands of unstoppable creatures who hunt with heightened sound awareness, forcing the family to live in silence.

The easy premise here may sound somewhat one note, another creature feature with people running panicked from a destructive force; however, Mr. Krasinski composes this film with such precision that you almost forget that the whole concept revolves around the aspect of survival. What makes it so engaging, which in turn makes the tension and suspense work so effectively, is the construction of the family dynamic, the drama that engages the family to function with some kind of normalcy in an situation that is far from normal. The brother and sister quarrel, the husband and wife share romantic moments, and the parent and child relationship is filled with growing pains; when danger comes and these moments are interrupted with aspects of sound, the terror is palpable and the concern for the well being of the family is real. Krasinski composes the film with a clear understanding of how and why fear has such a grasp on people.

The design of the film is also quite effective, in particular the sound design which is a mix of subtle and sharp moments that heighten the scenes with suspense. Understanding that the creatures hunt by what they hear, the director utilizes this aspect to toy with the viewer, leading them to predict what might happen which is often times the worst case scenario. 

Krasinski and Blunt, who are married in real life, imbue the film with emotion and heart. The children, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, also help with grounding the narrative structure here, being the catalyst that promotes jump into action many times. 

All the best horror films understand that fear is more than scary monsters, it’s a culmination of different emotions that contribute to the power that fear has over the mind. “A Quiet Place” effectively plays with this aspect of emotion in clever ways through the character design, the sound elements and secluded atmosphere of the film, which help in crafting some truly exciting and terror-filled moments. 

Monte’s Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

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Sicario Review

Sicario

Dir: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal, Maximiliano Hernández, and Jeffrey Donovan

The analogy of a pack of wolves is utilized in Denis Villeneuve’s drug cartel film “Sicario”. It’s a good analogy for the characters in the film that are a mix of operatives working against and with one another for some sense of control amidst chaos and violence. Villeneuve makes films about violence and the people that are administering and receiving the abuse. The film focuses on the American drug problem and the cartels that operate along the border of Mexico. “Sicario” is a tense and foreboding film, one that drops the viewer in the middle of everything that is happening and moves them along for the journey. Villeneuve is an exceptional director and “Sicario” is a wonderfully constructed film that composes an atmosphere of consistent dread with characters forced into a struggle of morals.

Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is an idealistic FBI agent vigilantly working a deadly case against the war on drugs. After raiding a house filled with corpses an explosion kills members of her team. She is enlisted by an elite government task force lead by a secretive official named Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), who is followed closely by a mysterious liaison named Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). Kate volunteers for the task force and is immediately taken to the El Paso/Juárez border for a secret mission.

“Sicario” is structured with a heavy dose of suspense and an atmosphere that lingers with fear. It’s quite an effective composition that is accomplished by impressive design elements and a narrative that places the viewer at the center of a scenario that is already in motion. Written by Taylor Sheridan, the script operates from mainly one perspective, following Kate into the fog of this secretive operation with ambiguous operatives. In one scene Kate is swiftly taken into a tactical meeting, told to blindly follow orders from a mysterious man who doesn’t fit the mold of the group, hastily transported into Mexico to extract an informant she never gets to look at, and forced into a gunfight at the border. It’s paced almost frantically, switching views from inside the crammed vehicles to high above the crowded city. Behind the camera is Roger Deakins, an master of photography who composes “Sicario” as a visual descent into darkness, a reflection of the characters in the film whose only obsessive focus is the mission and nothing else. The finale takes a turn towards pure vengeance, an exploitive measure that offers a moment of forceful justification played solely for sensation, which upends the meticulous pacing and procedure established at the beginning of the film.

Emily Blunt does a great job portraying the morally torn agent, split between doing what is right by the law and what is right for the law. Josh Brolin plays vague with arrogant glee. Wearing sandals in the office and sleeping soundly on plane trips only to turn around in tactical gear and night vision goggles, Brolin pulls it all off with ease. Benicio Del Toro plays a more complicated role, a man with a tragic past doing terrible acts for whoever calls for him. Del Toro has played this version to greater and lesser degrees in films before; still he adds something unique and intriguing to the role.

The treatment of the war on drugs in this film is one of disenchantment, a no-win situation with a faceless monster. It’s one of the main reasons why “Sicario” feels so bleak. Even when action leads to resolution it’s never satisfying but instead is portrayed by ongoing gunfire blasts seen in the dark or heard in the distance, a war with no victors but rather a continuous carousel of chaos. To this point “Sicario” has completely succeeded.

Monte’s Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

Edge of Tomorrow Review

Edge of Tomorrow

Dir: Doug Liman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, and Brendan Gleeson

Tom Cruise knows how to make an entertaining film and director Doug Liman understands action film storytelling. Combine these two consistent artists in a film and you are bound to have one entertaining experience. "Edge of Tomorrow" is a smartly designed and skillfully constructed science fiction thriller, with good performances from the two leads.

Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is a high level recruiter for the military and the new war against alien invaders known as mimics, who have the ability to reset time, giving them the advantage of being a step ahead in warfare. Cage, a non-combat officer, is stripped of his rank by an overzealous General (Brendan Gleeson) and placed in a ragtag group known as “J Company” for frontline defense in the impending first assault. Cage doesn’t make it very far on the battlefield, dying within minutes but in the process killing a mimic that bleeds on him and gives him the ability to reset time. On a learning curve with his new power, Cage enlists the help of a respected soldier named Rita (Emily Blunt) in an effort to defeat the mimics.

Cruise was good throughout the film, starting the story as a privileged officer in the military who had an aversion to blood and had never used the weapons he promoted. But by the end he was a hardened expert of combat, motivated by the needs of humanity over his personal fears. It was a shift that Cruise handled with ease. Emily Blunt was enjoyable to watch, wielding a massive combat sword with an attitude that challenged most manly military stereotypes. She was best when paired with Cruise; mostly kicking him around during training sessions and repeatedly killing him so she could reset the day, it became fairly humorous after awhile. 

The narrative was complicated, but not confusing. Liman kept the story nicely paced up to the final act, which changed tone and unfolded too predictably. The battle sequences were in the style of Liman’s past films, a mix of frenzied handheld perspectives awash with a grey color palette. Liman constructed a maze-like battlefield with explosions from nearly every direction that was an impressive display even with the unneeded 3-D gimmickry. The initial battle, that would again be replayed more than few times, was dizzying and exciting.

The CG aliens were in a constant state of hyper movement, reminiscent of the chaotic transition seen with the conversion from machine to robot in the “Transformers” series, and it became cluttered when mixed with Liman’s distinct action design in some parts. The artistic design of the futuristic weaponry was reminiscent of the first person shooter game "Unreal Tournament", though the gore was much less. The restraint, in regards to violence and the many deaths of the lead character, were handled subtly with a camera pan or an intentional edit.

While the movie incorporated elements from some familiar sources, most notably "Source Code" and "Groundhog Day", director Doug Liman kept the story easy to follow and the action exciting to watch, making "Edge of Tomorrow" an unexpected summer surprise.

Monte’s Rating

4.00 out of 5.00