Category Archives: 2016 Movie Reviews

2016 Movie Reviews

‘The Jungle Book’ movie review: Never finds a balance

As Disney continues to adapt every single one of their animated classics into big budget, live action adventures, they’re going to be hit and miss. “Cinderella” was ok. “Maleficent” was meh. “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” had it’s moments but was mostly a misstep.

“The Jungle Book”, the tale of the orphan Mowgli, and his adventures in the jungle with Bagheera and Balooo, his battles with Kaa and Shere Kahn, is just kind of one big WTF.

Mowgli (Neel Sethi) with Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray) in Disney's Jungle Book
Mowgli (Neel Sethi) with Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray) in Disney’s Jungle Book

There’s really no other way of putting it.

Everyone is raving about the way it looks. I’m going to have to take their word for it. Yeah, I saw it…but I saw it in 3D. Unless they saw a cleaner version than I did…the 3D does more harm than good here, which seems to be par for the course for Disney’s live action.

That being said, the artistic design of the film is amazing. It is entirely CGi, meaning the only thing that is real is little Mowgli. The jungle looks amazing and the animal designs are pretty sweet. It’s just the damn 3D makes it too dark and blurry to really enjoy it.

Is it for kids? That seems to be the debate. The movie establishes a pretty dark mood early on and struggles in the second act when characters like Baloo (Bill Murray) and King Louie (Christopher Walken)  are introduced. It gets kinda funny, then weird, then scary again. It’s kind of all over the place, not really sure if it wants to scare you or make you laugh.

Full The Jungle Book movie review

Rating: 6/10

Release date: April 15, 2016

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Written by: Justin Marks

Starring: Neel Sethi, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, and Bill Murray

MPAA rating: Rated PG for some sequences of scary action and peril

Running time: 1 hour 45 mins.

2016 Movie Reviews

‘Everybody Wants Some’ movie review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

I love movies like “Everybody Wants Some”. They’re fun. They entertain. They don’t try too hard to push emotional buttons if it isn’t necessary. And when you’re done, you feel good, but not burdened to find a deeper meaning.

 

Left to right: Glen Powell plays Finnegan, Wyatt Russell plays Willoughby, Blake Jenner plays Jake, James Quinton Johnson plays Dale Douglas and Temple Baker plays Plummer in Everybody Wants Some by Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.
Left to right: Glen Powell plays Finnegan, Wyatt Russell plays Willoughby, Blake Jenner plays Jake, James Quinton Johnson plays Dale Douglas and Temple Baker plays Plummer in Everybody Wants Some by Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.

Welcome back, Richard Linklater. We weren’t sure if you could get back into that old “Dazed and Confused” vibe after snagging your first Academy Award (Best Director last year for “Boyhood”), but you did and it was so much fun to take a dip into the past with you. This movie is being referred to as a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed. What does that mean? It just means it taps into that laid back, vibe, baby.

“Everybody Wants Some” takes us back to 1980 — not quite the 80’s but it ain’t the 70’s no more, either. We follow a small college baseball team in Texas for a weekend before classes begin. It’s all about these guys getting to know each other, drinking beer and chasing women. Some are dealing with the transition from high school to college, while others are making plans for life after baseball.

It’s conflict-free, but that’s a good thing here. It makes for a nice, enjoyable movie with plenty of laughs, memorable characters and a killer soundtrack.

Full Everybody Wants Some!! movie review

Check out my interview with the stars of Everybody Wants Some, Wyatt Russell, Glen Powell, and Quinton Johnson, who all play fantastic characters in the movie.

Rating: 7/10

Release date: April 15, 2016

Written and directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Wyatt Russell, Quinton Johnson, and Glen Powell

Running time: 1 hr. 57 mins.

MPAA rating: R for language throughout, sexual content, drug use and some nudity

2016 Movie Reviews

‘Batman v Superman’ movie review: Progress but joyless

Well, they can’t all be winners, but damn, this one stings — as a critic, yes. But also — as a FAN.

It’s not good, don’t let anyone tell you different. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to like about it. I generally enjoyed this a little bit more the second time I saw it with my boys. But the problems I had with the film’s dumb, bloated plot were still there.

Henry Cavill is a little bit of a more reluctant Superman than we've come to expect. (Warner Bros.)
Henry Cavill is a little bit of a more reluctant Superman than we’ve come to expect. (Warner Bros.)

“Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice” is the long awaited pairing between DC’s heaviest hitters. The only problem is, for all the hype, the film fails to capture any of the magic of these characters. From the opening moments of the films, Snyder bogs the audience down in slow motion recaps of Bruce Wayne’s parents’ murder and a non-sensical plot that fails to be fun.

This is a movie about a news reporter (Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman) and “the world’s greatest detective” (Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/the Batman). If Clark was even a decent reporter or Bruce even a marginal detective, their problems could have been A. more interesting and B. solved much quicker (even if they still had to come to blows to do it) — but no, we get mopey Superman and grumpy old man Batman.

batman eyes
Ben Affleck is a hardened and jaded Batman. (Warner Bros.)

The action is great. Affleck is a beast and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is a show-stopper. But the problem is the big moments just aren’t earned the way they could have — and should have been — through just a little more patience, another movie or two, which would have allowed for the proper character development and world building necessary to give this movie the emotional impact it deserved.

When Batman refers to Superman as his “friend”, literally five minutes after he nearly kills the Son of Kryton and later on, when Bruce Wayne talk about “failing” Superman…it just doesn’t hold any weight.

I’m gonna defend my people on this one. Critics get a bad rap, especially when we go against the “fans”. Keep in mind, our job is to view a film with “criticism” — but not matter where we are, we all got into this because we love movies.

Unfortunately, all of Wonder Woman's scenes are in the trailer, but Gal Gadot tocks it. (Warner Bros.)
Unfortunately, all of Wonder Woman’s scenes are in the trailer, but Gal Gadot tocks it. (Warner Bros.)

I wanted to badly to LOVE this movie. But I didn’t. That being said, I think DC is on the right track, kinda, finally. Hopefully, they can find someone that can inject some FUN into these movies. Dark and mature is fine, but dark and mature can still be FUN!

You can read my initial review below and check out my podcast, Tim and the REEL Hooligans. This week we’re talking Batman v Superman.

Full Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie review

Rating: 5/10

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Written by: David S. Goyer and Chris Terrio

Starring: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, and Jesse Eisenberg

Running time: 151 mins.

MPAA rating: PG – 13 for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality