A Wrinkle in Time

First Hit:  I love the concepts in the film but the execution was generally very poor.

I wanted to like this film more than I did.  Almost from the beginning, there was something not quite right about this film. When Mr. Murry (Chris Pine) is teaching his daughter Meg (Storm Reid) about how vibrations can affect sand on a flat plate, there was a clunky sense to their interaction.

There was little sense or buildup as to why her peers were giving her a hard time. We slowly find out that she misses her dad, who disappeared some 4 years earlier. He just disappeared and the kids made fun of her because of this? Didn’t make sense and didn’t stick with me, given Meg’s attitude and personality on the screen.

Her adopted brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) is a genius and pushes the envelope at their mutual school. He calls people out on their stupidity and Meg has to break up the fight.

Regardless, Charles Wallace believes that their father slipped through a wrinkle in time and traveled to another galaxy (I interpreted this as a different dimension). He finally convinces Meg that something like this happened and introduces her to Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) who is a quirky and a renegade spiritual human presence and form of light.

Meg and Charles Wallace are join by a classmate Calvin (Levi Miller), who says he got “a call” to join them. He struggles at home because his father beats him even though he’s a great student. This part of the film is poorly done and doesn’t work well.

The three kids meet up in Meg’s backyard and Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) take them through a wrinkle in time and end up on a new planet (new dimension).

The place is made of light as are the three Mrs. However, when they fly on Mrs. Whatsit’s back and encounter The It (the dark forces), the light bearers say that the kids might not find Mr. Murry.

The concepts of light and dark are great to express in written form and in film, but here the direction and substance of this story fails to make this journey compelling.

Pine was good as the scientist first guy, setting aside his family for the sake of science. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was good as Mrs. Murry, there was a sweet genuineness to her. Reid was very strong as Meg. Her passion and intelligence came through. McCabe was excellent as young Charles Wallace. He did a great job of being a smart kid and one that was taken over by the dark side (The It). Witherspoon was funny as Mrs. Whatsit. She brought humor but her character was also inconsistent. How can you be new as a light being and run out of energy so quickly. Kaling was OK as a seer, but I just didn’t buy the role. Winfrey was Winfrey. The extra-large size physical presence might have been more about inflating that it was Oprah than the role. It made little sense and adding the stiff gown she was fit into made her performance stiff. Miller was OK, but I struggled as to why he was part of the journey, the case wasn’t well made. Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell wrote a mediocre script when it could have been great. Ava DuVernay’s direction was poor. But some of this is based on the poorly created script. However, I think she could have made better choices about the story’s direction and how it was constructed.

Overall:  This film falls flat when it comes to telling a strong story, but it does have a strong point to make if the audience sees through the uneven film.

Wonder Woman

First Hit: I was put off at the beginning and the movie didn’t get much better from there. Unfortunately, this spring there has been a lack of quality and interesting films. This film is another one of those failed films that attempted to make a point of some sort and fails to deliver. What I thought the points that this film wanted to make were: Women are powerful and that love is the only way we can all live in peace. To do this the movie spends its time in titanic wars between entities that are not real.

On the first point, yes it shows a woman as a physically strong woman, but I think Hidden Figures and Zero Dark Thirty model stronger women with mental fortitude in more realistic settings. On the second point, our history from WWI is self explanatory.

The odd thing about this film and an obvious failure, is that after Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) defeats Ares/Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis) in a battle during WW I, which is suppose to bring peace to the world but doesn't because a few years later the world experiences WW II. So the point or mission of Wonder Woman to kill the God of Death, Ares, doesn't really do anything.

The early background scenes of the hidden island of Themyscira, which is home to the Amazon race and Diana Prince, were horrible. The waterfalls were obviously not real and against the live background really looked fake. Additionally the dialogue between Hippolyta (Connie Nelson) and Antiope (Robin Wright) was stilted and seemed forced. The other item that struck me as amateurish was the beginning voice overs telling us the story so that we would buy into the premise. I didn’t.

Although everyone who doesn't live on the hidden island is skeptical of a God of Death and War, Ares, Wonder Woman knows he exists and leaves the island to kill him and make the world safe for all. When a young spy accidentally travels through the hidden island’s cloak (not a very good cloak) she follows him back out of the cloaked island ready to find and kill Ares.

There are numerous scenes where Wonder Woman is an anomaly to this WWI story and that’s part of the point. However, the film does not do this well and therefore I ended up wondering if this was a poor action film or a very poor tongue-in-cheek comedy.

The fight scenes were attempting to be grand gestures, however it just seemed too fake. Wonder Woman rarely got dirty and the long slow buildup to the supreme war between her and Ares just wasn’t very good. It lacked excitement and well-designed choreography.

Gadot was okay as Wonder Woman, but the storyline and direction let her down. I think there is more to her than she was able to give us here. Thewlis was mediocre as Ares. Didn’t think the casting was right for this. Chris Pine as the spy Captain Steve Trevor was appropriately amusing if this film were more aimed to be a tongue-in-cheek comedy. There are a host of other people playing parts but I don’t think it is appropriate to review their performances. I disliked Allan Heinberg’s screenplay as I thought it was lost and without a clear genre. Patty Jenkins seemed as lost as the screenplay and if the point of this film was to make an impact, it failed.

Overall: Cannot recommend anyone sitting through over 140 minutes of this celluloid.

Hell or High Water

First Hit:  Very well acted Texas Ranger crime story that evokes the old west while resolving a modern day problem.

Brothers Tanner and Toby Howard (Ben Foster and Chris Pine respectively) are two bank robbers who clearly have a plan. During the robberies they take only loose cash, only what is in the teller drawers, and only from the small Mid-Texas Midland Bank branches.

As the story evolves the audience learns how Tanner has been a trouble maker his whole life while Toby has been walking the straight and narrow path. So why are they doing this? We eventually find out and that is what makes this story work. Because the amount of money they are taking are small, the FBI isn’t interested in finding the robbers, so the Rangers get the assignment.

Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) is a near retirement Ranger who is a little long in the tooth while being old time smart and is very loyal to his job. His partner, Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham), is a younger man who is also Indian. The running jokes in the film is that Marcus cannot help himself about making racist and pointed jokes about Alberto’s heritage. However, the audience also sees the love and respect Marcus has for Alberto. In the pursuit of the robbers the audience learns about each of the characters and the story of the ranch Tanner and Toby are trying to save.

The script does a great job of defining the characters and letting the story unfold.

Pine is wonderful as the thoughtful smart brother who finds a way to help his family. Foster is perfect as the on-edge bad-boy brother who wants to help and support his brother. Bridges embodies the old west in the new world with this role. He’s amazing. Birmingham is fantastic as Bridges’ partner. A shout-out to Margret Bowman who plays a waitress in a restaurant. Her 2 minutes on the screen were brilliant. Taylor Sheridan wrote a very strong script. David Mackenzie did an excellent job of directing the actors through this story. The small Texas town feel was very well done.

Overall:  This was a very entertaining film.

Star Trek Beyond - 3D

First Hit:  Although the script and visuals were dark in tone, I loved how the main characters embodied the Star Trek story and allowed me to enjoy this film.

It is not easy to keep a film succession, based on a television series, engaging while upholding the essence of the story that has been around since 1966.

To be clear, it is Chris Pine (as Captain Kirk), Zachary Quinto (as Commander Spock), Karl Urban (as Dr. “Bones” McCoy), Zoe Saldana (as Lt. Uhura), Simon Pegg (Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), John Cho (as Sulu), and the late Anton Yelchin (as Chekov) that make this film engaging and the story work.

I wasn’t a fan of this particular story or the darkness of the film, but the crew of the Starship Enterprise was amazing. They have magically embodied the original characters and brought them 5 decades into the future with dignity.

This is what I loved about this film, the characters and actors. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who plays a significant role in this film, isn’t added to the mixture of the Star Trek crew in future films. The villain in this film is Krall (Idris Elba) who is looking for a item that will allow him to destroy the Federation.

Pine, Quinto, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cho, and Yelchin are compellingly amazing at their ability to continue the growth and transition of these characters by bridging the 50-year gap from the characters’ inception to today. They all deserve heart felt kudos. Boutella is very strong and the character she embodies fits well with this film and the crew. Simon Pegg and Doug Jung wrote this script that allowed the characters to shine through. However, I wasn’t necessarily impressed with the overall story plot. Justin Lin did an admirable job of keeping the tone and focus on the characters.

Overall:  I enjoyed the film mostly because the crew of the Starship Enterprise was perfect.

The Finest Hours

First Hit:  This long film attempted to highlight an amazing true story about a rescue made by the Coast Guard.

This is based on the true 1952 story where two oil tankers broke apart off of Cape Code in a huge storm.

Chris Pine, as Bernie Webber, is a follow the rules member of the Coast Guard. He’s quiet and introspective. He’s lacks outward confidence as shown in the first scene where he meets Miriam (Holliday Grainger) a woman he’s only written and spoken to.

Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) is the engine room seaman on one of the oil tankers. He does not get much respect from the rest of the crew because he is so focused on the ship. However, they end up turning to him for survival after the ship breaks up.

The film very slowly unwinds with the group of seasoned Coast Guard team has little confidence that Bernie is a good enough captain. No one makes it “over the bar” in heavy stormy seas, yet Bernie attempts and makes it.

The tanker crew turns to Sybert because he’s the only one committed to saving them all as a group. The film is about the rescue, about self-belief, confidence and romance.

Pine played this part in such a way that I did not find him very interesting or compelling. I did find Grainger’s character interesting and driven. Affleck was far more compelling in his role and I was engaged watching his role play out. Rachel Brosnahan as Bea Hansen a fisherman’s wife to also be very engaging. Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy wrote this adequate screenplay. I’m not sure whether is was the screenplay, actors or direction of Craig Gillespie that was the cause of this film dragging, although once the rescue actually begins, it gets better.

Overall:  Unfortunately I’m not sure the compelling real story came through in this film.