Star Wars IX -- Rise of Skywalker

Plot: Emperor Palpatine returns and revels to Kylo Sen that he is the 'force' behind the departed leader Snoke. He tells Kylo to go kill Rey. Meanwhile Rey learns that Palpatine is alive and has a hidden armada for ships. Rey and the boys go look for him, leading to the final final battle. 

Review: I had to see this movie. Watching the nine Star Wars movies is/was a life task for me. I started watching these movies in the 42 years ago. Whoever thought they would finish the movies?

Years ago, Lucas said the final trilogy was about building a new better republic, that is the first trilogy was about the rise of the Empire, the second on the fall of the empire, and the third on the rise a new republic. This was like Asmov's Foundation Trilogy with the third book about the rise of galactic government run by psychologists not politicians.

I wonder if Lucas had notes on the plot for episode 9. He is not credited on the screenplay.

In my own mind, I wondered what would be the best government for a galaxy, and how would you make a story from that. Is it like Rome, or Athens, like the UN of Episode 1, or like the rebel alliance in Episode 7 or 8? Is there really no utopia?

The actual 9th movie leaves us with the fall of the empire in form of the long-delayed death of actual emperor from episode 1. I love the continuity closing the series with the original villain's death. In terms of politics, we see a new confederation of independent planets willing to support the battle against the empire.

More realistically, the story at the end of episode nine is where it was after episode six. The empire is dead, and the galactic order is in flux. A tabula rasa for more stories.

The creation of utopian government is probably not a commercial plot for a movie, and this is not the end. No, no, there is going be a well-spring of Star Wars media probably forever.

Anyway.

Did I like this movie? Yes. We got a group of likable heroes flying around, fighting against long odds, and defeating tyrannical bad guys. They used to say that Darth Vader was the ultimate villain, but really Ian McDiarmid is. He does a great job with the Emperor.

I could have used a bit more soap opera drama among the characters.

Cast: Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine

Directed by: JJ Abrams

Written by: JJ Abrams, Chris Terrio, Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly

The Music: I am tired of composer John Williams. I did appreciate the old themes dancing around once in a while. I don't need so much continuity. 

The Visuals: There are some well-composed and beautiful scenes. Of course, the special effects are superb. 

Rating: 3.0 stars: .

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Little Women

Plot: . [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Meg (Emma Watson) Amy (Florence Pugh) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) are growing up in a small northern town during the Civil War period. They have family traumas, have romances, travel to Europe, plot to marry wealthy, and Jo writes stories. Jo is clearly based on author Alcott.

The characters are living the novel the Jo is writing, and the snake devours its tail at the end where the 1870's editor gives Jo advise on whether to get married.  I liked this whimsical twist.

The acting is good. The story is not too demanding. I might have appreciated a few more historical details, but generally this is a feel good movie about sisterhood. 

Cast: Sairse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Amy March, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet, Florence Pugh

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Written by: Greta Gerwig based on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott

The Visuals: Great costumes. I loved the colorful and carefree beach scene.

Rating: 3.5 stars: I liked it. 

Minor spoiler: The real author Louisa May Alcott did not marry, and the character in the movie based on her did marry. I assume the character in the novel does too, but I have not checked the book.  Maybe I will.

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Ford v Ferrari

Plot: Ford enlists card designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to build a car with Ford that could with the 24 hour race in LeMans. Shelby has to play politics with Ford executives, while somewhat anti-social Ken Miles needs to make-nice with Ford to keep his job as a driver.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Ford v Ferrari is not a racing story or even a US vs Europe story. It is about Shelby and Miles competing and winning. They struggle with each other, with Ford and with Ferrari's racing.

Christian Bale inhabits the character of Ken Miles and makes him a trouble and realist man. This is the heart of the movie. Shelby is more conventional, and well-acted, but it is not as flashy a performance.

I think the Ford executives were too cartoony, that is, they were simple-minded corporate bad guys to serve as minor villains. 

Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Caitriona Balfe

Directed by: James Mangold

Written by: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, Jason Keller

The Music: OK

The Visuals: The racing scenes were believable and exciting. Some of the race cars themselves seemed cool and fun. 

Rating: 3.5 stars: Well made, but not touching on universal themes 

More: Here are the real Shelby and Miles

Even More: Director Mangold said in IndieWire that:

 On “Ford v Ferrari,” Mangold and his team worked hard in pre-production on figuring out how to stage and shoot racing scenes where the cars and camera reached near-racing speeds — never the 200mph that the real-life cars and drivers the film was based on reached, but getting up into the 140 to 170 mph range when necessary. The reason for this was as much about the performances, specifically Christian Bale’s, as it was about achieving the visceral practical action Mangold loves.

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Shazam!

Plot: 14 year old Billy Batson (Asher Angel) had an encounter with a wizard and became the superhero Shazam (Zachary Levi.) But he is still an immature 14 year old. When supervillian Dr Sivana (Mark Strong) comes after him, Shazam and his foster brother Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) don't know what to do. They keep their identities from their foster family for a while, but then everyone gets into the fight. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: The best part about Shazam is Zachary Levi playing an adult child with superpowers. His joy and discovery is fun to watch: clearly the best part of the movie.  Most of the story is corny, like the wizard and his liar, the smoke monsters, and the evil bad guy Dr Sivana.

The plot is simple enough to be a kid's movie, but it is a little too violent, some mild profanity, and a dark secret about Shazam's birth mom, that make me recommend that <13 year olds stay home. 

Cast: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Kylan Grazer, Mark Strong

Directed by: David F Sandberg

Written by: Henry Gayden based on a story with Darren Lemke

The Visuals: Serviceable special effects - but a little on the simple side.

Rating: 2.5 stars: Good acting from Zachary Levi, but kind of corny otherwise. It's got a kid's movie plot.

 

More: DC's Shazam was also known as Captain Marvel, which is the same name as a different Captain Marvel superhero owned by Disney's Marvel. Hard to understand why there are

Even More: Director Sandberg liked having the adult superhero with a kid's personality, as in the 1988 movie Big. He says: Every kid dreams about becoming a superhero and he actually gets to become that. I keep saying that most superheroes get their superpowers when their adults and when they are in a place where they have these responsibilities and they are sort of weighted down by that. But, with a kid, you get that joy of “Oh shit! I’m a superhero, I can do all these things!”

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Toy Story 4

Plot: It is little girl Bonnie's first day at kindergarten, and she makes a doll she calls Forky from a spork, pipecleaners, and a popsicle stick which she brings home. Bonnie is in love with Forky, but Woody can't convince Forky that Bonnie really needs her. Soon, Forky jumps out of the camper window during Bonnie's family vacation, and Woody goes after him. 

Forky and Woody end up at an antique store where they meets Gabby Gabby and several creepy ventriloquist dummies. After escaping, Woody ends up at a carnival where he meets Bo Peep, who was in one of the earlier movies. They team up to rescue Forky in a complex rescue plan that leads to the happy ending.

  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: I enjoyed Toy Story 4 as I have enjoyed the other three Toy Story Films. I liked it because of the story telling, and the way the toys care about each other.

Forky looks silly, but he becomes a likable childlike character. Reminding us the quality of the CGI is not what drives a movie. 

Woody is worried about becoming obsolete as Bonnie outgrows him. Bo Peep has come to grips with this, and has a developed Carpe Diem attitude. Bo Peep becomes the mastermind and action hero which provides a feminist vibe.

I got caught up in the story, and especially the ending. 

Directed by: Josh Cooley

Written by: 8 people, which is crazy. Still I liked the story.

The Music: Two pop songs by Randy Newman, who also wrote a regular orchestral score.

The Visuals: Exactly what you expected if you saw others in the series. The 3D imaging was good. I liked the scenes of the carnival, and I like the milky images during the closing credits.  

Rating: 3.0 stars: While it was good, I don't know that it was great. The carpe diem message is not so strong that it warrants another ½ star. 

More: Stay for the post-credit sequences.

Even More: I gave Toy Story 3 three and half stars back in 2010. The review is still online. I liked Toy Story Three the best.

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Rocketman

Plot: Rocketman is a biopic about the singer Elton John (Taron Egerton), starting as a child piano player, becoming a professional musician, and then making it big. It tells Elton's story by illustrating his life-events with his songs and lyrics. The songs are cherry-picked to fit the story and are not chronological.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: This is a musical version of Elton's life with breaks for singing and dancing, and it gives the flavor of his life without nit-picking detail. I came to see Rocketman for the songs, and there were plenty of them. Several were well-staged, and made the whole movie worth it. For example, rocket man is sung at the bottom of a pool.

If there is a dramatic arc, then it is that Elton became a drug addict, and he dries out. Why are so many singers drug addicts?

I liked to see the relationship with writer Bernie (Jamie Bell,) clearly the most important relationship in Elton's adult life. Since Bernie wrote the songs, the lyrics are not as meaningful to Elton's personal story. This robs the story of emotion.

The story needed to have a love scene, and Rocketman's pushes the limit; it was the most graphic male on male love scene that I have ever seen.

Taron Egerton does a nice job with the songs, and a decent job acting. Of course, Elton sings better.

 I liked the wrap-up where figures from Elton's past appear at an AA meetings, and where he embraces his childhood self. Elton is an executive producer of Rocketman, and so this ending is like his personal statement to the audience.

Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard

Directed by: Dexter Fletcher

Written by: Lee Hall

The Music: Obviously Elton John songs sung by Taron Egerton

The Visuals: A few fun songs with clever productions, and some great costumes

Rating: 2.0 stars: It had a few good songs, but a lot of average ones.

 

More: I search my music library at home. It has no original Elton John song, but there is a saxophone-heavy instrumental version of Can you feel the Love Tonight? by John Tesh.

Even More: Director Fletcher says that Rocketman is "a story of Elton John unpacking all of his issues and baggage whilst in rehab."
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Avengers: Endgame

Plot: In the previous installment, bad guy Thanos killed half the people alive including lots of superheroes. Here Ironman (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America, (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Antman (Paul Rudd), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) hook up to kill Thanos and resurrect the dead. The movie spends half its three hour length reminding us of the relationships between the heroes, and setting up their desperate plan to right all the wrongs. With help from Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) they make rapid progress, but the bad guy arises to make a fight of it. [imdb]  [photos]

Review: Endgame is satisfying because of all the relationships between the characters. We get to visit with our old friends and recall their stories.

The first part re-introduces the major characters and I enjoyed this part. In the middle they execute their plan, which has recaps of scenes from Avengers: Infinity Wars. OK, but not as imaginative as it could have been. In the end, we are back on Earth fighting the bad guys in a grand battle. The battle is well-staged with individuals fighting and talking -- still it is just a battle, and which superhero is stronger than the others is arbitrary. After the battle there are emotional goodbyes and foreshadowing of future films.

I had been dying to see how they brought everyone back to life, and now I know. It would have been more thrilling with a tighter, streamlined narrative. Yet it was more nostalgic and emotional this way. The characters were frequently sad and mourning, or attached to their loved ones. And many of these scenes were effective.

It is a goodbye for the oldest characters, and primarily for Robert Downey Jr, who is a great actor, and who the best scenes. 

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Brie Larson, and most of the rest of Hollywood. 

Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo

Written by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFelly based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. 

The Music: Orchestral music by Alan Silvestri

The Visuals: Top quality special effects including the new Hulk/Banner character who is great. I liked the special effects on Nebula/Karen Gillan's head. 

Rating: 3.5  stars: Good but not super. As mentioned not such a thriller, but more emotional. And I do want to see it again. 

and 1/2

More: It was three hours long, but it has more than enough plot for that length of time.

Even More: This wraps up a 22 movie cycle.

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