The Good Dinosaur (2015)

Pixar has a good record of putting out masterpieces revolving around the moviegoers’ senses. “The Good Dinosaur” directed by Peter Sohn is a wonderful story about a young dinosaur named Arlo who’s separated from his family and has to navigate his way back home with the help of a primate-like human child named Spot. The story is simple and shows great achievement in CGI, particularly with the details in the landscapes. It looked all too real. Some people were taken out of the movie because the dinosaurs were too cartoony amidst the lifelike CGI terrain, but I wasn’t. It didn’t affect me.

This was an ambitious animated film for Pixar to make. They took a 180 degree turn on dinosaurs and humans integrating. Something paleontologists would have a freak fest with. I’m not a paleontologist, so I didn’t care. And it’s a movie. You can do anything you want as long there’s a story to tell. That’s where I found some flaws in this film. It’s a simple plot, but it’s too simple and too vague. Some of the scenes and characters they put in the film seemed like they were fillers to get the story to move faster. With that said, the relationship between Arlo and Spot is perfect. They hate each other, then they love each other and their friendship pushes boundaries making for some tearjerker moments. Pixar is good at making me cry. Tissue please.

“The Good Dinosaur”

Creed (2015)

Rocky Balboa is back and he’s brought a friend with him. It’s Creed! Yes! This film-directed and written by Ryan Coogler-revolves around the boxing underdog, Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan)-Creed-who seeks out Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) to train him. This film has everything a boxing movie needs. It has a fighter, a trainer, a heart, and an awesome and brutal fight that ended the film in a powerful knockout.

The film’s director, Ryan Coogler, succeeded in bringing back the nostalgia and grit in boxing movies while adding a bunch of movie making punches. One of the fights in the second act of the film lasts for approximately  seven minutes and there are no cuts! That’s showing off if you ask me. The sound is great. The pacing is fabulous. All of the punches  look and feel real that left me cringing. And the whole film is entertaining to no end.

Stallone comes back into his role as the Italian Stallion nearly forty years after the original “Rocky” (1976). He lands right back into his roots as an experienced fighter and an experienced actor. His place in this movie isn’t a forced role. Rocky’s character is written well by Coogler, and Stallone’s portrayal of him is so natural making Rocky rustic and fresh at the same time. The cast is harmonious. The editing is dead-on. And Coogler successfully rebooted a 1970s classic for the twenty-first century audience.

Sylvester Stallone (L) and Michael B. Jordan (R) in “Creed”

Jurassic World (2015)

Colin Trevorrow brings to life what we all wanted for twenty years since “Jurassic Park” came into theaters. He brings life, humor, and excitement to the film’s characters and dinosaurs alike. I went into this film thinking it was going to be as weak and non-relatable  as the last two. Talking dinosaurs really don’t appeal to me all that much. I was dead wrong about this film.

“Jurassic World” takes us to the infamous island once again off of Costa Rica, except a new park emerged that is supposed to be bigger, better, and most importantly, safer. Things don’t go as safely as people want and it’s up to the game keeper, Owen, (Chris Pratt) to save the day. The concept of the whole movie is great, and is executed perfectly giving us the right amount of action, acting, suspense, and plenty of dinosaurs devouring humans. I was so overcome with it I got giddy.

There have been mixed reviews with this film considering if it’s as good as the original, and to put frankly, it’s not. What Steven Spielberg did with “Jurassic Park” is remarkable. I don’t believe any dinosaur disaster movie will come close to being as good. “Jurassic World” didn’t need to be as good as its original predecessor. It had to be good and fun. And good it became with fun written all over it.

Chris Pratt in “Jurassic World”

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

This spy and action movie directed by Guy Ritchie is a good look back in 1960’s Europe with one spy from the C.I.A., Agent Solo (Henry Cavill) who joins forces with a Soviet spy, Agent Illya (Armie Hammer)  to stop an international threat that could start World War Three. The concept is brilliant, but the execution is where I lost interest with this film.

The chemistry with Cavill and Hammer was pretty weak with confusing dialogue that was all too forced trying to make the two like each other. They butted heads on screen as they were supposed to, but their accents needed work. I was taken out of the film with Cavill’s American accent, and I was ‘really’ taken out of the film with Hammer’s Russian accent. I felt I was watching a movie that tried too hard to be a movie.

I was quite bored with this film halfway through it. There was action that filled the scenes where it needed it, but I was bored by the action too so my boredom was inevitable.  Again, it is an awesome thought to have a duo like this on screen, but it could have gone in so many different directions. The film could have casted differently, do a few rewrites in the script, and/or put some more effort with the shots and editing making for a more visually appealing action flick.

Henry Cavill (R) and Armie Hammer (L) in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”

 

Mr. Holmes (2015)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s  famous detective is still going strong with Sir Ian McKellen portraying the genius introvert once again. I don’t watch independent films all that much as the skeptic that I am, but I am so glad I watched this one directed by Bill Condon. It has a brilliant story to tell, beautiful connections to its audience, and puts a puzzle together for the mind.

Sherlock Holmes is in his nineties and retired to a coastal village in a cottage taking care of bees. One case he was never able to solve twenty-plus years earlier still gives him bitter memories and tries to solve it with the help of his caretaker’s son Roger, played by Milo Parker.  At first I didn’t recognize who Mrs. Munro (Roger’s mother) was played by. Once I really looked at her, I realized it was Laura Linney. Boy did she transform for her role! How did I miss that in the opening credits?! Bravo Linney!

Anyway. How this film was made and how it was edited made me as confused as Mr. Holmes was. What was missing in Holmes’ case? Who was the culprit? Was there a culprit? I was amazed at the editor, Virginia Katz’s work cutting and fitting the shots so well making us think we were in Holmes’ head. It kept me and most people who watch this film guessing what was going to happen next. I watched it again and I could see the clues right in front of me! Now that’s engaged film making.

The last thing I want to point out is McKellen’s performance. He was brilliant in this movie. The role was perfect for him and he put in the effort to make us believe he was a ninety-three year old man. He’s seventy-six years old, so I guess it wasn’t too hard to act like that. But he made his age seem so natural. His mannerisms, speech, and eyes did the work of the aged man he was supposed to be. He made it look easy.

Sir Ian McKellen in “Mr. Holmes”

Spectre (2015)

Sam Mendez directed another James Bond film giving fans more Bond missions, more Bond villains, more Bond girls, and more Bond locations around the world. I’m feeling kind of “Bondified”. I guess that’s a good thing. Either way, it’s another Bond film I can put into the collection.

Daniel Craig plays Bond for the fourth time who must face his past against the terrorist organization known as Spectre led by the one and only Blofeld played by the multi-talented Austrian, Christoph Waltz. We are also introduced to two new characters: Madeleine Swann, played by Lea Seydoux, and the bond villain Hinx, played by Dave Bautista. He has some ‘killer’ thumbnails. Hinx brings us back to the nostalgia of Bond villians such as Oddjob and Jaws. And Swann is another Bond girl that pulls the MI6 agent into love he had in “Casino Royale”.

It’s a great cast, but I thought they weren’t used to their full potential. Particularly Waltz. He wasn’t intimidating, spoke weak dialogue that tried too hard to get him connected to Bond somehow. It seemed rather desperate.  And he just didn’t do enough for me as a villain. The plot too was a little weak and diluted making for a very nonabsorbent audience.

It’s not the worst of the Daniel Craig Bond films, but it certainly could have been better with a fresh director. I think Mendez was burnt out and knew he couldn’t match what he did with “Skyfall” (2012). He did his best with what strength he had in him.

Daniel Craig in “Spectre”

 

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Ever wanted to see a movie about espionage, courtroom drama, humanity at its best, and defying all odds? Then “Bridge of Spies” is the movie for you! Yes ladies and gentlemen. Steven Spielberg directed and the Coen brothers wrote a spectacular Cold War film that will fill your minds with history and beautiful imagery with Tom Hanks at the helm. I was both educated and entertained. The best of both worlds.

Hanks plays the ambitious and softhearted lawyer James B. Donovan who is tasked with defending a captured Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, played by Mark Rylance. Rylance is so convincing as Abel that I actually understood and had empathy for his character. He’s supposed to be the enemy! Why am I rooting for him in court?! Thanks to Donovan’s arguments in and out of the courtroom, he paints a terrific picture why Abel did what he did for the Soviet Union. Great direction by Spielberg on that one

One flaw I saw with this film was the transition between the two halves of the film. The first half was about the courtroom and the second half was about the prisoner swap in Berlin. It was great to see how East and West Berlin differed on opposite sides of the Berlin wall, but I don’t think it fit the plot from the first half. It was like I was watching two separate movies. I saw this happen in “The Green Berets” (1968) with John Wayne. Two separate linear plots making it feel like two movies.

I was not dissapointed with this film. It kept me focused on the characters and gave me a great two hour history lesson through the eyes of one of our greatest directors we’ve ever had. A great film for our history books.

Tom Hanks (R) and Mark Rylance (L) in “Bridge of Spies”