I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Michelle Dube to talk about new movies in theatres including the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 13:05)
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 29:53)
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to brush your teeth. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you wazzzzup with the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Masters of the Universe,” a new live-action sword-and-sorcery adventure now playing in theatres, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam back to Eternia and his alter-ego of He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. “”Hang on,” says Teela (Camila Mendes), “it’s about to get weird.”
CAST: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Morena Baccarin, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Kristen Wiig, Jared Leto, Idris Elba. Directed by Travis Knight.
REVIEW: “Masters of the Universe” doesn’t take itself seriously and neither should you. The irreverent tone harkens back to “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “Thor: Ragnarok,” movies that captured the spirit of their source material.
Stranded on Earth at age ten after fleeing his home planet of Eternia, Adam Glenn’s (Nicholas Galitzine) fantasy world of “nerd stuff and sword things” stands in stark contrast to his soul crushing corporate HR gig.
“All that stuff that exists only in legends and bedtime stories,” he says, “talking tigers, spaceships and magic swords that can make a man as mighty as a god, where I come from, that stuff is real.”
His daydreams become real when he is reunited with The Sword of Power, an ancient weapon that grants its rightful owner the power of the gods. He’s transported back to Eternia to find his once peaceful planet transformed into a battlefield by the sadistic Skeletor (Jared Leto), an evil warlord who says things like, “The universe shall quake in my shadow.”
With the help of Captain of the Guards of Eternia, Teela (Camila Mendes) and Heroic Warrior Duncan/Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), Adam reclaims his true legacy as He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. “This is my home,” he says. “I’m gonna fight for it.”
Silly but sincere, “Masters of the Universe” is a mix of old and new.
It’s touched with 1980s fan service—1987’s He-Man, Dolph Lundgren even makes a cameo—and Adam’s feathered hair would not have looked out of place on Rick Springfeild, circa “Jesse’s Girl.” I don’t remember discussions on toxic masculinity or teamwork-makes-the-dream-work style speeches in the animated series or the 80s live action movie, but the new version wears those on its sleeve along with souped-up CGI and self-aware humor.
“He’s bad,” Teela says of Skeletor.
“There has to be more to him than that,” says the naïve Adam.
“He has a skull for a face,” Teela shoots back, stating the obvious.
The old and new come together to create a canvas for several giant action set pieces, and smaller moments of exposition, but it’s the characters that bring the fun.
An unrecognizable Jared Leto hands in a theatrical performance as Skeletor that mixes menace with immaturity. He’s an evil diva and the movie is way more fun when he’s on screen. “Hello insignificant wretches,” he says by way of introduction to the people of Eternia. “You are but buttworms under my feet.”
As Adam’s childhood friend turned warrior, Mendes plays Teela with heart, spirit and a great deal of charm.
At the film’s center is Galitzine. As Adam he’s the most powerful man in the universe, but he’s also kinda goofy and naïve. It could have been played strictly for laughs, but instead, he comes across as a sweet and silly himbo, who’s muscly enough to dropkick baddies through a brick wall. He provides something often missing from large scale blockbuster action movies like this, and that’s heart. “My whole life,” he says, “I dreamed of being something more.”
“Masters of the Universe” succeeds in what it sets out to do, update a nostalgic favorite with high stakes action and a modern sensibility. To paraphrase He-Man, “I HAVE THE POWER…. TO ENTERTAIN!”
I review the number one film in the world, “Zootopia 2” for CTVNews.ca.
“It makes for a densely packed, candy-coloured confection that lacks the cleverness of the original film, but still delivers a fun, although sometimes repetitive, experience for all ages…” Read the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Zootopia 2,” the decade-in-the-making-sequel to the 2016 Oscar winner, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman voice odd couple, undercover police partners on the most important case of their lives.
CAST: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Shakira, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, and Quinta Brunson. Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard.
REVIEW: Picking up immediately after the event of the first film, the 2016 Oscar-winning animated hit “Zootopia,” the action takes place in the titular city, a big bustling metropolis run by the mammal descendants of the city’s founder, Ebeneezer Lynxley.
Fresh off solving a career making conspiracy case, the eager police officer rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and con-artist-turned-cop Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), are stumbling all over themselves to convince Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), their cape buffalo chief of police, that they aren’t one-trick-ponies, or foxes or rabbits.
“Some are questioning whether you should be partners in the first place,” Bogo tells them.
When Judy finds a piece of snakeskin, a rarity in a place where mammals don’t trust reptiles, she’s thinks it’s the first clue in her next big case.
With a reluctant Nick by her side, Judy tries to discover why pit viper Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan) is back in town, why there’s no snakes in Zootopia and why everyone wants to get their paws on a mysterious old book that predates the town.
A mishmash of puns, old-school movie references and action delivered at supersonic speed, “Zootopia 2” threatens to careen out of control but strays on track to deliver a family friendly crime caper with plenty of laughs and heart.
Directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard, working from a script by Bush, lay it on thick for all members of the family. It’s probably the first kid’s flick about gentrification, which will likely fly over the heads of the younger set, but the vibrant animation and frenetic action should keep kids entertained while adults will catch the endless puns—Gnu Jersey anyone?—and call backs to “Ratatouille,” “The Godfather,” “Silence of the Lambs” and the original movie among others.
It makes for a densely packed, candy coloured confection that lacks the cleverness of the original film but still delivers a fun, although sometimes repetitive, experience for all ages.
SYNOPSIS: “Heads of State” is a Prime Video action-comedy featuring Idris Elba as Sam Clarke, a former commando-turned UK Prime Minister, and John Cena as Will Derringer, a former action star, now President of the United States, who is as loose as Clarke is uptight. “He still hasn’t figured out the difference between a press conference and a press junket,” says Clarke. When an international conspiracy threatens world peace, they can save the world, but only if they can put aside their differences. “The universe keeps telling me I look cool with a gun in my hand,” says Derringer.
CAST: Idris Elba, John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jack Quaid, Carla Gugino, Paddy Considine, Stephen Root, Sarah Niles, Richard Coyle, Clare Foster, Katrina Durden, Aleksandr Kuznetsov. Directed by Ilya Naishuller.
REVIEW: If the title “Heads of State” sounds like a throwback title from the 1990s it’s because the film is a return to the action comedies of the Clinton years. It’s a crowd-pleasing mix of likeable leads, ridiculous action and humor that echoes movies like “True Lies” or “Rush Hour,” films that got the balance of laughs and action just right.
The “embarrassing popcorn president” named William Matthew Derringer—“Your initials are WMD?” Clark asks incredulously—and the pragmatic prime minister are the engine that keeps “Heads of State” on track. A stacked supporting cast, including Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jack Quaid, Carla Gugino, Paddy Considine and Stephen Root, fill out the film’s edges, but it is Elba and Cena who hold its center, nicely playing off their opposite personalities.
Reteamed from “The Suicide Squad,” where they shared action-comedy moments as Bloodsport and Peacemaker, they are chalk and cheese with the chops to hold the film’s disparate tone together.
For the most part “Heads of State” avoids any heavy moralizing and sticks to its frenetic but lighthearted vibe. Sure, there is a disbanding NATO subplot, some America First banter and it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out who screenwriters Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec and Harrison Query are referring to when they have a character say, “The people elect a dopey actor as leader of the free world, of course their country can’t survive,” but “Head of State” isn’t about political discourse. It’s about chemistry and bombastic action, tinged with a hint of nostalgia for the buddy movies of the past.
SYNOPSIS: When a mysterious and powerful enemy threatens to destroy the planet, Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Knuckles (Idris Elba) and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) are recruited by the secretive Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) to save the day.
CAST: Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba Krysten Ritter, Keanu Reeves. Directed by Jeff Fowler.
REVIEW: A combination of live action and animation, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” starring Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves and now playing in theatres, sees the lead trio of heroes, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles face-off against “the Ultimate Lifeform.” He’s Shadow the Hedgehog, a powerful villain, recently unleashed after fifty years of captivity, who is determined to destroy Earth. To save the planet the trio teams with an old adversary, Ivo Robotnik. “Let’s do this,” the formerly evil doctor says. “If I can’t rule the world, I might as well save it!”
Usually by the time a franchise gets to the point where they have a “3” in the title the movies are bigger and louder but not better. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is one of them.
90s nostalgia takes the day. A generation who grew up with the Sonic videogames—the first one was released in 1991—are rewarded with a story that packs loads of lore into the fast moving movie.
Sometimes it feels like there’s too much lore.
The plot is all over the place and the film jumps to and fro through time and mythology at breakneck speed, but even though it’s convoluted, it’s a lot of fun for old fans and new.
The bonus for Generation Y’ers is the presence of Jim Carrey in the dual role of Dr. Robotnik and Gerald Robotnik, Ivo’s grandfather and Shadow’s creator. Carrey is in fine comedic form, recalling his up-for-anything performances in 90s favorites like “The Mask” and “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” It’s double the fun as Carrey delivers the film’s funniest lines and shows off his mastery of physical humour.
Another 90s superstar, Keanu Reeves, takes a role that could have been a standard issue villain and makes us understand the source of his malevolence. When he talks about the effect of the death of his best friend had on his psyche, it’ll make you feel something for an evil, animated hedgehog.
Not all of it works. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter aren’t given much to do as the adoptive father of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, simply adding another story shard to an already crowded movie.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” defies the rule of sequel diminishing returns. It builds on the strengths of the first two films in the franchise to deliver a fun family friendly movie just in time of the holidays.
