Moana

Moana

Rating 8.5 out of 10

When I saw previews for this movie I was lukewarm on viewing it. Looked kinda hokey to me.  But the chance came up to take the grand kids to the movies and to be honest I'd sit thru a Tyler Perry movie to spend time with the kids.  When daughter Mandy heard what movie we were going to she dropped the baby at the sitter and joined us.  Bonus.

I have to admit right off this movie was WAY better than I thought it would be.  I loved this movie and feel it will become one of the Disney Classics.  The movie starts 3000 years ago on a small island of Oceania.  Young Moana is the daughter of the king and being the only child next in line to take over.  She is very adventurous and drawn to the sea which is strictly forbidden by her father.  No one is to go past the reef.  When the fishing and food begin to run out Moana follows her grandmothers story and sets sail to find the god Maui whom it's said can save the islands.

While Dwayne Johnson is the big name in this movie (I think he had something to do with the making of the movie), but the little Hawaiian girl that voices Moana steals the show.  I'm not even going to try to spell her name.  She is fantastic.  Dwayne is very good too.  He even sings.

The movie is very funny.  I laughed out loud several times.  Then it had some touching moments too. The animation is as good as you'd expect from Disney.  Clearly I liked it.  Luckily I have a few more grandkids I can get to go with me for repeat viewings.

I do recommend this movie.  You don't have to be a kid to enjoy it.

Allied

Allied

Rating 6 out of 10

This wasn't real high on my list to see but it was on the top of the Hottie's list.  That means it becomes the top of my list too.  I'm thinking I saw this was based on a true story but that could have been one of the many previews I saw before this one started.

Here Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is an undercover Canadian spy sent in to kill a bad Natzi officer (as opposed to all those good natzi officers).  He is paired us with Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) who plays his wife yet he has never met her.  They play man and wife for a couple weeks and begin to fall for each other.  When the assassination goes down (the whole thing fits in the two minute preview) they meet up again in London and get married and soon after have a baby girl.

After a little more than a year word comes that Marianne may not be who she says she is.  There is a German spy in town passing important information to the bad guys and it might be us.  Max has 72 hours to find out for sure if the mother of his child is a spy.  If she is he must kill her or be shot as a spy himself.

The movie is mildly interesting and fairly well acted.  Seemed everyone in the movie except the baby smoked and smoked alot.  That kinda got to me after a while.  The story is fairly predictable especially if you have seen the preview more than once.  It was a harmless afternoon movie that I'm not sorry I saw.  I'd recommend to also catch it on an early show or wait to rent.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange

Rating 8.5 out of 10

Since my comic book reading stopped at about age ten (unlike my comic book nerd Brother inlaw) I was not really familiar with the Doctor Strange character.  I think after the release of this movie most all of us will be very familiar with Doctor Strange.

I think casting on this movie is spot on.  Benedict Cumberbatch is perfect at Dr. Steven Strange.  He is a pompous surgeon that thinks he is a god that can do no wrong.  Talks down to everyone and is not beloved.  When a bad car wreck leaves him unable to operate he goes into a deep depression refusing to believe his medical career is over.  When all else fails Strange travels to an Eastern monastery where a bald woman with a cool version of kung fu begrudgingly takes him in.  Here he gets his version of Neo choosing the red pill or the blue pill.  Doctor Strange learns of a whole hidden world that blows his mind and will blow yours too.

As I said casting is perfect.  Tilda Swinton is good as the kinda creepy bald woman.  Chiwetel Ejiofor  is probably the best actor with the strangest name.  He plays sidekick Baron Mordo.  Rachel McAdams takes a smaller role as a doctor that somehow loves the cranky Dr Strange and helps him later on.

The effects are nothing short of spectacular.  They make the crazy effects in 2010's Inception look like a Saturday morning cartoon.  This is not a storyline like Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy where you can sit back and enjoy.  You need to pay attention to follow what is going on.  At times I found it a little confusing, yet felt it paid off in the end.

I was highly entertained and would recommend it.