Pete's Dragon

Rating 7 out of 10

I always enjoy taking the grandkids to a "popcorn movie".  They call it a popcorn movie because they know they can get me to buy an tub of popcorn and of course candy and goodies.  I'm the one that comes out a winner.  Especially when the movie is pretty good.  As was the case with Pete's Dragon.

I didn't realize this was a remake from 1977. I kinda remember the original.  This movie starts off with a family on and adventure up through the mountains.  When dad swerves to miss an animal in the road the parents are killed little five year old Pete wanders out in the woods all alone.

Five years later we see Pete is alive and well deep in the forest with a magic dragon named Elliot as his best friend and protector.  He is happy the way life is except a group of loggers cutting down trees close to his Swiss Family Robinson type of tree home.  When a lady forest ranger stumbles upon little Pete and takes him in it causes turmoil with Elliot the dragon.

Locals have heard stories of dragons living in the forest for many years and are excited at the chances of seeing/catching one.  The movie is cast well.  It paces right along.  Never once looked at my watch.  My grandkids enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it.  It's a cute and harmless movie all will have a good time with.

Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad

Rating 6 out of 10

When the fantastic trailer came out for Suicide Squad this became my most anticipated movie of the year.  Don't know that I've ever seen a trailer that made me want to see a movie so much.  Then the terrible reviews came out.  One reviewer called it not the worst movie of the year but close.  This clearly brought my expectations down.  I found this movie to be somewhere between best movie of the year and worst movie of the year.  Good movie.  Not great.

This movie starts after Batman and Superman has their battle.  Superman is no longer with us and the government is looking for someone to protect us when the next bad guy come after us.  Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) works for the government and assembles a crew of the worst of the worst.  Bad guys and gals with special powers.  As bad luck would have it as soon as the squad is assembled one of the ladies with special powers goes rogue and decides to kill everyone on the planet.

The Suicide Squad themselves have lots of promise.  The biggest problem is a movie like this rises and falls with the villain. Here the villain and her gang of weird looking helpers are just goofy.  You never feel like the squad or humanity is in much trouble.

Margot Robbie is great as Harley Quinn.  Will Smith is always good.  Jared Leto is a pretty good Joker.  The movie has some good action scenes.  Some comedy.  I was entertained.  Hoped to be overwhelmed but was just entertained.  I'm hoping Suicide Squad II is much better.

Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Still out of town and some time to kill.  Can't see Suicide Squad until the Hottie rolls into town so Jason Bourne it is.  Went in with very low expectations and by that was pleasantly surprised.  Not a great movie but I was mildly entertained for the 123 minutes I sat in the chair.

I like Matt Damon and the rest of the cast.  Like the rest of the Bourne movies (except the one he wasn't in) for good or bad Matt carries the film.  This one is pretty much like all the rest.  Jason is still getting pieces of his memory back.  Just enough to carry the plot line forward.  The evil CIA boss (Tommy Lee Jones) knows he has the secrets locked up in his brain to bring down his secret op program so he must be taken out.  There is always a sensitive female working in the CIA that decides to slip Bourne top secret information to help him find out why he is the way he is.  This time that agent is Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander).

Lots of action as Bourne takes out one hit man after another in his quest to expose the bad guys.  Lots of scenery as they travel from Greece to Italy to Las Vegas.  I know I have harped not this before but the film style that seems to follow these movies is crazy.  The camera never stops moving.  Even when the characters are standing still the camera floats up and around like the cameraman is drunk.  Fight scenes are zoomed in and out so fast it's hard to tell at times whom is hitting whom.

That said I was mildly entertained.  If you liked the other Bourne films you will like this one too.  Damon is good.  If you want to get out of the summer heat there are worse ways than this movie. Or it will make a decent rental a little later.

Nerve

Nerve

Rating 6 out of 10

I'm in Minnesota for work and had a rain day.  My supervisor Jim and I could go outside and enjoy the 72 degree weather.  Instead we decided to go into a dark movie theater for a couple hours.  We intended to go endure the shaky cam and see Jason Bourne beat up bad guys only to find out when we got to the theater the 445p show was "canceled".  Faced with having to go back outside and breathe fresh air we looked at the board and saw Nerve was scheduled to start at 5p.  Sold.

Clearly Jim and I are not the demographic the studio had in mind when they gave the movie the green light.  We thought we were going to be the only two in the theater until four teenage girls came in during the previews and sat in the back probably creeped out that two grandpa's were in the same theater.  One crazy thing about this Cinemark theater is the movie was scheduled to start at 5p.  Instead between the commercials and previews the opening credits started at 5:28p!!! Twenty eight minutes of previews and commercials.

Oh yeah, the movie.  This movie plays on the social media craze between twitter, you tube and maybe a touch of video games.  A blacklist illegal game has taken the younger crowd by storm where people can play the game where faceless moderators dare the person to do crazy things and broadcast them with their iPhones for money.  Each dare gets a little crazier and pays a little more. Vee (Julia's niece Emma Roberts) is a repressed high school girl who can't even talk to her football stud guy crush is talked into playing the game.  She quickly is paired up with Ian (Dave Franco) and they become fan favorites.  The dares become more and more dangerous.  The game is very illegal yet everyone in NYC seems to be watching and the police have no clue.  Vee see's this is no simple game and becomes determine to shut it down.

The two leads are likable and overall the movie is fairly harmless and mildly entertaining. I would think if you are over the age of about 25 you may want to wait for RedBox or Netflix.

Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond

Rating 7 out of 10

I have watched Star Trek since William Shatner had his own hair.  This is a movie that I don't expect a intricate plot.  Just lots of action and fun.  This movie delivers on all of that.  I think Chris Pine does a good job as the young Captain Kirk.  The whole cast is pretty spot on.  I really like the newcomer Sofia Boutella, the karate kicking female with the ultra white skin and strange black tattoos on her face.  She was good in last years Kingsmen: The Secret Service.

As I said the story is not very intricate.  A damsel in distress comes to the Federation needing help with her stranded ship on a deserted planet on the other side of the universe.  Of goes Kirk and gang to save the day.  Surprisingly enough there is a really bad guy waiting for them with an ax to grind.  Even more surprising is he has some crazy weapon and is determine to wipe out everyone in the universe.  Hopefully James T can come up with something at the last minute when all hope is gone.

Of course the effects and visuals are light years better than Wrath of Khan.  It really is amazing what they can do with CGI now.  This is a fun popcorn movie.  Lots of action.  Throw in some comedy and attempt a little romance.  I think this Star Trek movie is maybe a notch below the last one yet I was entertained and would recommend to any other Trekkie fan out there.

Legend of Tarzan

Legend of Tarzan

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I thought this movie looked interesting from the first preview I saw.  I know CGI has come a long ways in the past few years and that would only help a movie like this.  That and any movie with Margot Robbie will get my rear in a seat.  When it came out to pretty dismal reviews I tried to think back to any other Tarzan movie not a cartoon that was very good.  I had decided to let this wait for a rental, but the Hottie wanted to see it and she usually gets what she wants.

This is a bit of a different telling of the Tarzan tale.  I have never read a Tarzan book and actually had to google to find out it was a series of 20 books written in the early 1900s by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  With this movie we start several years into Tarzan's life where is his now a Lord and gentleman living in England with his lovely and spunky wife Jane.  He now goes by John Clayton.  No one calls him Tarzan anymore.  Much of the jungle story is told well by flashbacks.

When bad guys are taking slaves and doing bad things to the locals in the jungles of Africa to get at the vast supply of diamonds to be had.  Tarzan is drawn in to try to help his people and Jane comes along.  He is also followed by American George Washington Williams who is determine to shine a light on the new slavery.

Any cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz gets an A+ rating.  Ms. Robbie holds her own also.  I didn't really care for Alexander Skarsgard as Tarzan but the Hottie thought he was perfect.

Overall I was entertained much more than I thought I would.

The BFG

The BFG

Rating 2.5 out of 10

I thought the trailers for this movie looked very interesting.  They have come so far with CG it's amazing the life like way they can make giants appear.  I thought this movie looked worth seeing and when the new Tarzan movie scared me off with bad reviews this movie moved to the top of the list on a blazing 4th of July with the Hottie.  I should have done something else.

The effects are amazing without a doubt.  The giants walking in downtown London are pretty incredible.  The problem is in the story.  It's as dull as they come.  Lisa fell asleep at one point and we left the theater before the movie was over.  I can imagine a twelve year old boy would like this movie. Don't see an adult liking it much.

Ruby is a ten year old girl in a London orphanage back in the 1940s.  She has problems sleeping and is awake at 3 am when BFG (the Big Friendly Giant) is going thru town doing his thing.  Because she sees him he is forced to snatch her up and take her back to giant land.  Turns out of the ten or so giants there he is the only friendly one of the bunch.  The rest are very mean to him and while they like the little kids it's more to eat them.  Half the movie is BFG hiding the little girl from the other giants so they can't eat her.  Ruby decides the only option they have is to enlist the help of the Queen and her army to kill all the bad giants.

After several minutes of BFG learning to drink tea and eat bacon and eggs while talking mostly gibberish I decided I was RFB (Really Flipping Bored) and we decided to depart.  Is this movie bad enough to walk out on?  Probably not.  I had just had enough.  A good mid day nap seemed like a much better option.  Your milage may vary.