Category: Comedy

Weekend In Taipei

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Weekend in Taipei

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: George Huang

Written by: George Huang & Luc Besson

Produced by: Virginie Besson-Silla & Luc Besson

Starring: Luke Evans, Gwei Lun-Mei, Sung Kang, Wyatt Yang.

‘Who’s the snitch?’

The opening of, A Weekend in Taipei is the city shown in a fast-paced montage of images of the street life; to dead fish on the pavement, motorbikes, toys and temples – all shot in contrasting saturated colour to black and white to introduce the style of the film: action featuring car chases and fight scenes but also the drama of an unhappy family and a woman waiting for The One to finally come back.

Kwang (Sung Kang) is a corrupt billionaire being charged with the only crime that sticks – fishing license violations.

Surrounded by media, Kwang curses at his staff as he gets into his car.  He tries to call his wife, Joey (Gwei Lun-Mei).  She ignores him.

Instead, Joey takes a Ferrari for a test drive.  She drives, fast.

Joey’s been married to Kwang for 15 years.  Her son, Raymond (Wyatt Yang) hates him.  Raymond doesn’t understand why she’s with him.

But Joey explains that a long time ago, she needed help.  And Kwang was there.

Cut-to Minneapolis where John Lawlor (Luke Evans) is getting arrested holding a goldfish in a glass.

An undercover DEA agent, Lawlor is on the trail of Kwang after uncovering a delivery of heroin with Kwang’s name all over it.

It’s time to spend a weekend in Taipei.

Amongst the action, knife fights and car chases, there’s a lightness to this film that adds a sense of fun.

Lawlor’s fellow agent in a restaurant fight unintentionally getting more injured as Lawlor tries to protect him is hilarious – grater across the hand, the kitchen on fire, ‘oh, no.’

This is a classic- style action movie with humour that hits the mark.  And there’s some fresh ideas here, like knocking the power board off the lift, then the door handle off the exit door to the stairs, delaying the bad guys giving chase.

Director George Huang explains one the biggest challenges making the film was shooting in Taipei in the summer.  It was so hot that the final fight scene was moved indoors to a cinema where, ‘images from Zhang Yimou’s The Secret of the Flying Daggers are projected onto the actors.’

It’s a clever device that adds another layer to the fight and another point of difference to the action that I enjoyed.

The film does feel stilted at the beginning but the chemistry between Agent Lawlor and mother, wife, badass-driver Joey lifts the film up a level.

There’s a good balance as young actor Wyatt Yang who plays the son Raymond states, ‘It’s a very exciting film, it has lots of fast cars, guns, and blood, but at the heart is a family story.’

Not the deepest dive into the characters but there’s enough amusement and action thrills – who doesn’t like a car chase featuring a beach buggy?! – to make for an entertaining watch.

CatVideoFest 2024

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★CatVideoFest 2024

Rated: G

Directed by: Will Braden

CatVideoFest is a compilation of cat videos sourced from submissions, animations, music videos and the internet.

Trawling through over 15,000 videos, director Will Braden has found the most entertaining moments of cats to raise money for cat shelters.

Beginning in 2019, the festival has raised over $150, 000 for local shelters as well as encouraging adoptions, fostering, volunteer signups and more.

The delightful end result shows a loose structure to a 75-minute reel, from ‘Drama’ featuring cats sharing space with a dog, giving a baby The Look, to opening the fridge, to oh-how-we-love-to-knock-things-off-shelving, to a black kitten trying to capture the sun.

‘Action Adventure’ shows a kitten attacking shoelaces, cat boxing, turtle versus cat – turtle wins.

‘Cat GIFs’ has a cat in the back of a hooded jacket.

Biddie-Fluff
This is my fur ball of sunshine, Biddie-Fluff; ever hopeful for a belly scratch but knowing not to get too far over the keyboard when I’m working.  This is of course, is not always a successful arrangement.

‘Documentaries’ has Cat Man Chris, rescue Humphrey and his brother, ‘This is peak cat owner existence,’ The Unbothered Cat, to trying to work with kittens around (I can relate!).

‘Musical’ has a cat singing on cue with his owner guitarist and sprinkled throughout the reel is an old dude playing a piano and singing lyrics describing the goings on with made-up cat songs.

Speaking of which, there’s of course the Christmas ornaments sequence, ‘Your ornaments are history,’ then there’s Goat suffering from seizures but oh so soothed by his human’s music therapy.

‘More Cat GIFs’ shows orange straddling a pole.

‘Comedy’ has the ultimate ownership of the family cat being more important, or more demanding of attention and cuddles, then the newborn baby just brought home.

CatVideoFest is good G-rated fun that had me crying with laughter.

The sometimes deadly looks from these playful felines?  Priceless.  And of course, it’s all for a good cause.

To submit a video of your fun fluff, see: https://catvideofest.com/submission.

See list of cinemas showing CatVideoFest, starting 17th of October, 2024 here: https://www.catvideofest.com/where-to-watch-aus-nz

The Wild Robot

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)The Wild Robot

Rated: PG

Written and Directed by: Chris Sanders

Based on: ‘The Wild Robot’ Novel by Peter Brown

Produced by: Jeff Hermann

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Stephanie Hsu, with Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames.

‘Funny how life works.’

Opening on a dark and stormy beach, otters sniffing the sand discover a crashed robot.

Meet, ready-to-receive-my-first-task ROZZUM unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o).

A ROZZUM AKA Roz always completes its task, just ask.

The Wild Robot analyses life through the lens of a robot’s eyes that has all sorts of fun and weird and wonderful moments including physical mimicry of Roz running around trying to find instruction from a bunch of wild beasts that are terrified of it.

Eventually, Roz the robot saves a goose egg from a conniving fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal).  And watching the egg hatch, as nature instructs, the gosling imprints on the robot.

Roz, now has a task (along with the help of Fink): to raise a gosling, later named Brightbill (Kit Connor), so he’s ready to migrate before winter sets in.

There’s so much to love about this movie, the critters all adorable, not one character out of place.

There’s the family of possums where all the young possums are taught to play dead (well, possum), each explaining the type of death therefore undoing the subterfuge because, ‘dead things don’t have to explain they’re dead.’

When I saw the premise of the film I thought it was a strange idea having a robot in the forest and at best would be cheesy, but the story leans into the pre-programmed robot that can’t feel anything contrasted with the wildlife that are in constant fear of being eaten.

The film doesn’t shy away from the reality of nature, instinct a different type of programming designed to keep animals fed or to flee to stay alive.

Afterall, ‘Death’s proximity makes life burn all the more brighter.’

Then there’s Brightbill that adopts Roz as his mother, snuggling up to the unfeeling metal, that brightens pink lights as a mechanical response to love.

It’s sweet seeing this robot become an unlikely mother with all the difficulty that goes with the ‘crushing obligation.’

There’s a real, flying the nest storyline that plucks the heartstrings but then there’s so much more to the story as Roz shows the forest creatures that kindness is a survival skill.

And that overriding programming can ultimately lead to a better survival.

This is a genuinely funny and heartwarming film that’s good fun for all ages.

 

The Fall Guy

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★The Fall Guy

Rated: M

Directed by: David Leitch

Written by: Drew Pearce

Based on the TV Series by: Glen A. Larson

Produced by: Guymon Casady, David Leitch, Kelly McCormick

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, Zara Michales, Ben Knight.

‘I’m just the stunt guy.’

Ryan Gosling as stunt man Colt Seavers to super star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) brings back the adorable to a tough guy role, ‘Did she say anything about me?’

Because after Colt breaks his back during a stunt on set, he disappears from his girlfriend, camera person, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).

Colt changes his number.

He gets a job parking cars.

Then Colt gets called back to work by Tom’s agent Gail (Hannah Waddingham) directed by none other than his ex, Jody.

Gail tells him Jody wants him back.

Colt definitely wants her back.

He just doesn’t know how to say it.  He just does things like cry his eyes out to Taylor Swift and pulls the tie under Jody’s gardening hat snug under her chin.

Did I say adorable?

I was surprised about how much of this movie is a romance between these two: stunt man and camera person turned director.

And as advertised, The Fall Guy is also a stunt movie, based on the TV series from the 80s, filmed in Sydney Australia which is pretty cool, with so very many explosions and I have to say terrible humour.

Think a Post-it note with, ‘Sell cockatoo’ written on one side and on the other, ‘Buy koala.’

The Aussie references hit like a lead balloon.

And the not so subtle dual meaning of the movie storyline and romance was overcooked, as was the fast forward dialogue.  It felt like there was one speed and it was run around, talk fast at highly agitated levels and again, explosions.  It was too much.

Colt when tied up and trying to talk his way out even talks about movies made with ‘too much.’

But I have to say those hesitations and head flicks from Gosling added just the right amount of giggle because it was subtle.

And yes, the addition of a unicorn to illustrate Colt’s state of mind was clever and genuinely funny.

So, yes there’s a lot of fun here, but unlike the stunts, not all the humour landed.

 

Kung Fu Panda 4

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Kung Fu Panda 4

Rated: PG

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

Co-Directed by: Stephanie Ma Stine

Written by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Darren Lemke

Produced by: Rebecca Huntley

Starring: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Ke Huy Quan.

‘There are more ways of helping people than kicking butt.’

The Dragon Warrior, AKA Po (Jack Black) returns, living the good life in the Valley of Peace.

He’s kicking back, catching rays… Literally, chasing down sting rays attempting to eat piglets.

Until rams come running telling tales (ha, ha) of the return of defeated nemesis, Tai Lung (Ian McShane) – somehow returned from the Spirit Realm.  But how?

Enter new enemy, The Chameleon (Viola Davis) – a sorcerer able to change into anything.

How do you defeat an enemy when they can be anyone?

Po, spends time with his dads: adoptive father Mr. Ping (James Hong) and biological father, Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), opening a new restaurant, using his fame to bring in customers -Po’s still ready for anything.  Except the idea of choosing his successor.

And to prove he’s still the Dragon Warrior, Po fights Zhen (Awkwafina), a pesky corsac fox attempting to steal his Staff of Wisdom.

A pesky fox, but not without talents.

Zhen’s in the know, and if freed, will help track down the formidable sorcerer, The Chamilion.

This latest instalment of Kung Fu Panda is full of wry humour.  A classic moment Po meditating to find his, ‘inner peace, inner peace… dinner please… with a side of peas…’

And there’s an underlying theme of dealing with change and growing from a seed pit into a strong tree.

This is a sweet movie that had me smiling all the way through.  Not hilarious, but kid friendly and filled with moments like a paint brush of colour across the screen to emphasize the Kung Fu action.

It’s a little sad seeing Po moving into his next stage of life, but that’s the whole point of the film, change.

Good fun for the whole family – skadoosh!

 

Wicked Little Letters

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★Wicked Little Letters

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Thea Sharrock

Written by: Jonny Sweet

Produced by: Graham Broadbent & Pete Czernin, Ed Sinclair, Jo Wallett

Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope with Eileen Atkins and Timothy Spall, Hugh Skinner, Paul Chahidi, Jason Watkins and Alisha Weir.

‘Congratulations on your tragedy.’

Based on a true story, Wicked Little Letters opens with the statement, ‘This story is more true than you’d think.’

The pious, God-travels-through-the-just, Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and do-I-look-like-the-anonymous-type-to-you?! Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), newly arrived in Littlehampton from Ireland, are neighbours.

It’s the 1920s and they share a bathtub and privy out the back.

Rose is ah, very natural, happy to swear, pass out on the toilet, and speak her mind.  She lives with her daughter Nancy (Alisha Weir) and partner Bill (Malachi Kirby) – her husband known to have died in the war.

Ms Swan watches her from the window and delights in Rose’s bold nature.  Edith decides to take Rose under her wing – to show the way to the light, of course.

But when child services are called to Rose’s door, she turns to the likely Ms Swan, thinking it must be the God-fearing neighbour, to which Ms Swann adamantly denies.

After the incident, the poison letters addressed to Edith begin.

The letters are vicious and filled with profanities that’s jarring in the quiet house of the Swans – ‘Foxy-assed rabbit-fucker,’ a favourite line.

‘It will be the death of me’ – exclaims Edith’s mother (Emma Jones).

Edward Swan, the stern, captain of the ship, father is outraged and demands the police become involved.

It’s the 19th letter.

The obvious suspect is of course, the riotous neighbour, Rose.

And without any evidence, Rose is taken into custody.

But Woman Constable Moss (Anjana Vasan) is not convinced.

Neither are Edith’s friends who gather every week for a game of Whist.

‘Congratulations on your tragedy,’ says Kate (Lolly Adefope).  She’s the proud mother of several parakeets that can be a handful.

It’s post-war England where the women who were left to work are now expected return into polite society as delicate flowers after driving tractors in the absence of their men at war.

The women have found their strength yet are forced into submission – ‘Let the man speak,’ Ms Swan’s father tells her. Only to interrupt the policeman to say, ‘Carry on.’

Whereas Rose grew up helping her grandfather burgle houses.

It’s a guilty by reputation scenario but expands as the film digs deeper into the characters, the drama shown in the nuanced changes in facial expression, Edith’s pious words overshadowed by the flash of delight in her eyes as she reads about herself in the newspaper.

This is a lighthearted viewing, much of the humour based on the times and language like, ‘butter-my-wig’ juxtaposed with the blunt Rose and of course the delightfully explicit poison letters, ‘Dear Edith, you foxy-ass old whore, you really are a tricksy fucker.’

Not the hilarious watch I thought it would be, but there’s a lot of heart here and an interesting character study of the hypocrisy of those who are forced to deny their true nature.

 

Barbie

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.7/5)Barbie

Rated: PG

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Written by: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach

Produced by: Tom Ackerley, Robbie Brenner, David Heyman, Margot Robbie

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Dupa Lipa and Helen Mirren.

Because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything – right?

Set in a world where every day is the ‘best day ever,’ Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) wakes up every morning with a smile on her face and tiptoes.

It’s all hanging out with the girls, impromptu musical numbers, Ken (Ryan Gosling) obsessed and only alive in the gaze of Barbie and Barbies’ ruling the world and perfect sunny weather with nothing but blue skies day, after day, after day…

Until those irrepressible thoughts of death invade Stereotypical Barbie’s peace of mind.

It’s time to go visit.  Weird Barbie, AKA Gymnast Barbie (Kate McKinnon).

An outcast in Barbie Land, Weird Barbie is forever doing the splits and keeps a dog that pooh’s hard plastic pellets (this is an actual creation where you lever the tail and the dog pooh’s – tee hee).

Gymnast Barbie knows what’s wrong because that’s how she became, weird.  Once upon a time her owner, a young girl going through a punk phase, decided her Barbie should have her hair hacked and face… changed.

Stereotypical Barbie’s human must be doing something similar but instead of angry, this human’s world is falling apart and the emotions are starting to influence the Barbie.

The only way to stop the dark thoughts and get Barbie’s feet where they should be is to find the person who’s having the thoughts.  It’s time to leave Barbie Land and enter the human world.

But Barbie?  In the real world?  It’s not going to end well.

‘It’s a repeat of Skipper in Key West,’ says CEO (Will Farrell) of Mattel (which for some reason still cracks me up).

It’s not long before Barbie is arrested and of course Ken’s along for the ride because he can’t be without Barbie.

And she might need someone who specialises in ‘Beach’.

Instead of the idealised matriarchal world they expected, Barbie and Ken soon realise that men are raised to a far higher level of power than in Barbie Land.

And Ken loves it.  If only he was qualified to do anything more than stand on the ‘Beach’.

At its foundation, Barbie the movie is a feminist comedy – a strong description, but the script doesn’t pull punches as Barbie tackles the patriarchal society of the real world.

One of the all-male Mattel executives says, ‘I’m a man without power – does that make me a woman?’

So Barbie is faced with the idea of death and a world dominated by men.

The discussion of the awkward position of women in society is refreshing.

I get the, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t scenario.

And I’ve never heard the difficulties declared in the way the real human woman character, Gloria (America Ferrera) who’s a Mattel employee and mum of teenage-full-of-angst Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), describes to Barbie: what it’s like to be a woman who can’t be fat, can’t be too skinny, has to say, ‘healthy’, while actually be skinny.  Has be assertive but grateful.  Be a sexy partner but caring like a mother but not a replacement for a mother.   Has to have a career but not be selfish.  Has to be successful but not so successful to make other people uncomfortable.  And it goes on.  And it all has the ring of truth about it.

It’s almost like the Barbies are the women born in the 50s who opened up the world in the 70s so women could become career women, and have babies – but in reality, there’s still a cage built of expectation.

Sometimes the message of the movie is a little dated like the idea of construction workers all being men.  And the only-alive-when-you-look-at-me-Barbie, Ken is an unbalance in the other direction.

But there’s a fresh outlook here.  That has genuinely funny moments.

The film was well-cast with Ryan Gosling as Ken helping keep it endearing as he too tries to understand his position in a patriarchal society versus a matriarchal society, then to find a place that understands the individual.

Then the message gets deeper as the idea of patriarch and the creation of Barbie is a construct created to intellectualise a confusing world; to try to control or understand, before we die.

As if I wasn’t already depressed in the middle of a Melbourne winter.

But then, it’s about girls and women, mothers and sisters and daughters all just being themselves.

So I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the message, with the added funny moments and a lasting feeling that tapped into a space unexpected – to feel good about myself and other women.

 

You Hurt My Feelings

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★You Hurt My Feelings

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Nicole Holofcener

Written by: Nicole Holofcener

Produced by: Anthony Bregman, Stefanie Azpiazu, Nicole Holofcener, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins, Arian Moayed, Owen Teague, Jeannie Berlin.

‘We’re so lucky.’

You Hurt My Feelings finds Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) finishing her second book; a work of fiction in follow-up to her somewhat, ‘it-should-have-done-better,’ lamented by her mother (Jeannie Berlin), memoir.

It’s Beth’s wedding anniversary.  Having dinner with her husband Don (Tobias Menzies), a therapist, it’s obvious that husband and wife have a loving, solid relationship.

‘You’re a good kisser,’ Beth tells him.

It’s sweet.  Too sweet for son, Elliott (Owen Teague) who works as a manager, selling marijuana while finishing writing his first play.

Beth is desperate to get her hands on the script but he’s not sharing, just yet.

Elliott feels his mother has lied to him, overestimating his talents growing up.

And finds his parents’ sharing their food a ridiculous habit.

You Hurt My Feelings is a film about family and how each individual fits into that dynamic.

Beth and sister, Sarah (Michaela Watkins) spend a lot of time together, discussing the important things in life, ‘Should I be buying better socks?’

It’s a deceptively simple film.

Then the sisters overhear Don telling Mark, husband to Sarah, how he doesn’t like the second book.

Beth is devastated.

It’s like the worst lie has been told to her face about what is her foundation of self: if Don doesn’t like her book, how can he respect her?

The style of the film allows the characters space, as they each struggle to overcome the obstacles of every-day life: Don second guessing his ability as a therapist leads to some of the rare funny moments in the film, ‘for some reason he doesn’t want me pointing at him,’ says one client about her husband partnering her in therapy but seemingly, not in life; arguments the never-ending melody of their relationship.

Beth’s brother-in-law, Mark (played by Arian Moayed) is another point of light as an actor who wonders if he still has what it takes, only remembered for his supporting role in, ‘a movie about pumpkins.’

Interior designer sister Sarah wonders what’s the point when a client doesn’t understand her taste, or more that she doesn’t understand her client’s taste.

It’s a film about the individual’s struggles in life and how Beth processes the deception of Don constantly telling her he likes the book, when he really doesn’t.

There’s a lot of space here, for the characters to be themselves, the expansion and growth of each character the foundation of the narrative.

But that space is created with mundane dialogue, ‘Wait mum.  Do we have bagels?’

‘I don’t know, I’ll check.’

Yes, the honesty is sweet, the psychology of the family subtle, leaving a feeling of the authentic, the performances making the most of the dry every-day.  And there’s a feeling of completion, a resolving and growth when the pieces of drama click into place.

But I thought it would be funnier.

You Hurt My Feelings is a bit New York, more drama than comedy and more about socks than expected.

‘Adorable?’ as sister Susan keeps exclaiming?

It grew on me.

 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★1/2

Rated: MSHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS

Directed by: David F. Sandberg

Written by: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan

Shazam Created by: Bill Parker, C. C. Beck

Produced by: Peter Safran

Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, Rachel Zegler, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, D. J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, Haithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews and Djimon Hounsou.

‘The most powerful thing about you, is you.’

Yes, there’s the expected underlying message that goes with any teen-starring superhero movie.

But there’s a balance in this sequel to Shazam!, released back in 2019 (see review here)

There’s the delightful humour of Zachary Levi returning as the superhero Shazam; his alter ego (or is it the other way around?), Billy Batson (Asher Angel) now turning 18, an older teen to his previous 14-year-old character, still revelling in his superhero’s man-body, his adoptive family, mum (Marta Milans) and dad (Cooper Andrews) blissfully oblivious to their adopted children’s superpowers:

Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) superhero Freddy (Adam Brody)

Eugene (Ian Chen) superhero Eugene (Ross Butler)

Mary and superhero (Grace Caroline Currey)

Pedro (Jovan Armand) superhero Pedro (D. J. Cotrona)

Darla (Faithe Herman) superhero Darla (Meagan Good).

The superhero powers don’t always go to plan though, hence being nicknamed by The Tribune – that no-one reads, it’s fake news! – the, Philly Fiascos.

There’s some genuinely funny moments here, with Shazam seeing a paediatrician, lying on a couch like he’s seeing a psychiatrist to unpack his issues – the doctor recommended by a friend, a youngish friend around Billy’s age because the doctor has dolls in the corner of his office.

Shazam has understandable issues.  He doesn’t think he deserves his powers because he’s been rejected A LOT: his parents, the foster homes.  Then of course The Tribune with front page, ‘Rejected by City.’

The main difference between the sequel to the original is the team aren’t kids anymore, so those jokes about the disparity of a child in a man’s body doesn’t have as much punch.   But seeing Shazam rapidly chewing a mint to seal the deal on his Wonder Woman crush… I found myself laughing out loud at Zachary Levi’s antics as Shazam once again.

Has to be noted that Billy the superhero was less mature than Billy Batson the teen turning 18.  But the idea of the school kids turning into fit superheros still worked and was a lot of fun.

And there’s blue fire-breathing dragons and the Staff of the Gods, the opening of the film above Athens.  Spartan’s appear: Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu).  Gods who have lost their power because of Shazam breaking the Staff in the previous film.

I like a bit of fantasy in a superhero movie.  And director David F. Sandberg has handled the balance of humour, fantasy and drama well.

The young Darla felt, well, a bit young, at times.  To appeal to a younger audience, no doubt.  I could hear the response in the audience to her doe-eyed antics.

Didn’t always hit for me.

But, ‘I’m an idiot,’ Shazam is just as funny as the first film, even as he fights his growing pains while forever wondering, what is my superhero name?

It drags a bit, getting to the growing up moment, but overall, I was Shazam! entertained by this sequel, Sandberg getting the timing of the jokes just right.

 

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Rated: PGPuss In Boots: The Last Wish

Directed by: Joel Crawford

Story by: Tommy Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler

Screenplay by: Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow

Produced by: Mark Swift, p.g.a

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Olivia Colman, Harvey Guillén, Samson Kayo, Anthony Mendez, Wagner Moura, John Mulaney, Florence Pugh, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ray Winstone.

‘Puss In Boots is never afraid.’

He’s a fearless hero loved by all, most especially himself.

Puss (Antonio Banderas) has nine lives.  But how many times has Puss in Boots died?

Thinking back there’s the card cheating death, the I can fly death… To name a few.  He thinks, four?

No, it’s eight.

And now with a bounty on his head, nothing new, there’s a red-eyed wolf (Wagner Moura) tracking him that actually stands a chance at defeating the, until now charmed, Puss.

For the first time, this fearless ginger cat that can sing, dance and wield a sword like the best of them, feels his fur rise.

The red-eyed bounty hunter can smell his hear.

Puss in Boots, for once in his many lives, is afraid.

The Last Wish is another colourful explosion from DreamWorks; a side story to the Shrek Universe, the film is also introduced as a fairy tale.

And like the Shrek films, it’s a fairy tale with a difference: Goldilocks now Goldi and her three bears, Little Jack Horner now Big Jack Horner.  Although, he still tastes pies by using his big thumb.

And then there’s the wishing star that falls from space to the earth.

To find the star is to find one last wish (hence the title) to be granted by the one who finds the star.

Everyone wants that wish.

Except for Perrito (Harvey Guillén).  He’s a deranged chuahua who’s ridiculously happy with his lot in life when he really shouldn’t be.

Then there’s the old flame of Puss, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault).  She has her reasons.

And of course, Puss, who for the first time appreciating that his life may end, wants to wish to start his nine lives all over again.

That’s the foundation and running thread through the story – to be happy with what you have, to enjoy the one life given.

It’s all a bit sweet, Perrito, AKA the wanna-be-therapy-dog, hilarious.

But the humour didn’t always hit the mark for me.

There’s some adult moments with Puss not wanting to be a lap cat, his descent into the domesticated life of a pet illustrated to the soundtrack of, ‘The Doors’, This is The End.

And that red-eyed bounty hunter is genuinely creepy.  In a good way.

The trio of SoftPaws, Puss and Perrito has a good dynamic to get through the challenges on their quest for that last wish; so the story although simple at times worked and sometimes not.

The twist of the traditional fairy tale characters didn’t always tickle: Goldi (Florance Pugh) and her three bear crime family just didn’t get there; although sweet, it was all a bit annoying.

My nephew and I agree on 3 1/2 stars: a good movie overall with explosive animation and not always funny bits.

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