Passengers (2016): Review

I have been looking forward to seeing Passengers since I saw the first trailer months again and went to see the earliest showing I was able. I am very glad to say that this movie met my expectations and that I really enjoyed it. I was apprehensive a bit as when I am expecting good things from a movie I tend to be disappointed, but the acting abilities of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence were up to the challenge of keeping me engaged and enjoying this movie. I am sure it will become of the movie I watch on rotation in the upcoming years and I am already hoping that others will want to go see it as I want to see it again.



Passengers is a movie that takes places in the future on the space ship Avalon. Where 5000 passengers have been placed in sleep pods during their planned 120 year trip to a new planet which they will be colonizing. Thirty years into their journey the space ship experiences some problems and two space pods end up opening. These pods belong to engineer Jim Preston, played by Chris Pratt, and writer Aurora Lane, played by Jennifer Lawrence. The question is are they able to to come to terms with waking up early and dealing with malfunctions that are occurring within the ship? How will they handle being the only two people awake with ninety more years until the reach their destination. Also included in the cast are Arthur, played by Michael Sheen, and Gus, played by Lawrence Fishburne.

As this movie is dependent on a very small cast it is very important that all the characters are likable and able to hold up the movie, and I am happy to say that all of the cast were well selected and did a great job. I liked all of the characters and was able to follow the emotional journey of them. I like Pratt and Lawrence as actors and their ability to get me to care about them and what is going on makes the movie. There are many movies out there that are simplistic in plot, like this one, but where the main actor or actors cannot hold up the movie and are not able to make me care.  There was great chemistry between Pratt and Lawrence and Sheen and Fishburne added a dynamic that helped the story along without taking away from the connection between the main two.



Although this movie is set in the vastness of space it is still very much character driven. The plot is very simplistic and not a lot happens but it is all about what is going on with the characters, both intra and inter personally. Although there were parts that were spoiled by knowing who was in the movie and seeing parts of the trailers that let me know certain key things were coming I still enjoyed the journey and wanting to see how things would play out. This is not a complex movie and it doesn't have any huge action sequences but it kept a good pace and it worked for me.

The CGI was good overall and I always love it when space is done in a way that looks gorgeous. This film was able to pull it off for me. Even the spaceship didn't look jarring and blended with the rest of the CGI. The only thing that looked obviously CGI was the zero g but this is something that few movies have been able to do well. It is hard to fake zero gravity realness for me, especially as I have seen footage of astronauts in real life zero g. It is hard to fake weightlessness and the hair is always wrong. However I enjoyed how they did the water. I didn't see this in 3D as I didn't want to wait for the later showing but think that this is one of the movies where it would be beneficial. My favorite way to use 3D is by things floating and seeing things far away in the distance, which as a space movie it has.




Overall there is nothing super special about the plot of this movie but it was enjoyable and kept me engaged throughout the whole thing. If you enjoy movies with good chemistry/ banter between the characters and that the plot keeps movie (although it is obvious and not complicated at all) it is worth seeing. Don't expect lots of action as this is not that kind of big budget movie.

My Rating: 3

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016): Review

This weekend I was excited for the new Jack Reacher movie because I like the original one, but alas I was extremely disappointed in this movie. I was really bad, and in short it is not worth paying the money to see in the theatres. I opted to go to the 2D version of this movie and am glad that I made this decisions because I didn't spend more money on it.  What was really disappointing was this movie could have been a lot better but it just was too predictable and bland and it didn't seem to care if there was any chemistry between any of the characters.



In this second Jack Reacher, you have Tom Cruise as the title character, a ex Army Major who has become a drifter who find himself getting involved in situations that he doesn't like and where he thinks things "don't add up."  He becomes involved via phone with Major Turner, played by Cobie Smulders, and as he is planning to visit her in Washington DC, he discovers that she has been arrested for Espionage. He gets pulled into this plot of her being set up and the main antagonist for Reacher is another ex military called The Hunter, played by Patrick Heusinger, who decides that even though he is being hired to take care of Hunter and Reacher he really wants to best Reacher. Also involved are Espin, played by Aldris Hodge; Samantha, played by Danika Yarosh; and Sgt. Leach, played by Madalyn Horcher.

As I stated this movie was bad, the plot was pretty straight forward and the things that were suppose to be surprises are drawn out like they should be suspenseful, were pretty basic, and were nothing special and I didn't experience any suspense during them. This doesn't make a movie bad or unenjoyable for me, per say, but this movie had no chemistry between the main characters. The movies is set up to have this intense flirtation between Reacher and Turner (that is why he is coming to DC) but she doesn't really emote anything at all and there is no zing or underlying tension between them. This is what was required to make a bland or generic movie enjoyable for me, good chemistry between the character or charisma of individual characters. It was also very forced between Reacher and The Hunter but they seemed to just be going through the motions then having this true competition between them. I don't think there was any need to add the Samantha plotline. I understand that the filmmakers were trying to give some intrigue into his past and give Reacher something else to care about but for me it doesn't work.  Saying all that, there were some enjoyable actors. I did think there was chemistry and potential with supporting characters like Espin, there was a little (and I mean just a little) question about which way he would go, and especially Sgt. Leach. She was the best part of the whole movie for me and I liked the development of her character, even thought she was only on screen for a few minutes in total.

I started out this movie being disappointed because the scene in the trailer in the diner was the very beginning of the movie and there was no explanation of how this occurred. I think that more about this story would have been more interesting. I wanted to see this and definitely would have liked more development of the situations where Reacher and Turner were involved before they finally come together in Washington DC.



The cinematography was similar as with the original Jack Reacher (2012), so no surprises there. The movie continues to have the fight sequences that I hate, where it is tight up fights where it is difficult to see what is going on. There is also a lot of running, I mean actually running in this movie. I would have liked a change up of the type of action sequences but in this movie we really only get running.

So overall, I was extremely underwhelmed with this movie. I didn't hate it but it was just unremarkable in anyway. It is fine and I would probably watch it on television but isn't worth paying money to see.

My Rating: 1

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Lets Do the Time Warp Again (2016): Review & Recap

First off this post will contain spoilers, so you are warned. And if you don't know the plot of this movie, what have you been doing, living under a rock? Also- it is more like a running commentary.

If you know me well you will know that I Love, Love, Love the original The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). I watch it several times every year and I have seen the Rocky Horror Show (stage production) many times and go to shadow casts viewing of he movie yearly. I know the basic props and prompts and therefore I am trying really hard to give this new production a chance. I was able to have an idea of what to expect because I saw a sneak peak of the "Dammit Janet" scene when I went to my shadow cast viewing a few weeks ago.



Basic outline: You have a newly engaged couple Brad Majors, played by Ryan McCartan, and Janet Weiss, played by Victoria Justice, who's car break downs in the rain and they end up at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by Lavern Cox. She has been making a man (Rocky), played by Staz Nair. She is assisted by her Handyman Riff Raff, played by Reeve Carney; her Domestic Magenta, played by Christina Milan, and Groupie Colombia, played by Annaleigh Ashford. The story is narrated by a Criminalist, played by Tim Curry (love that he is in this and nothing compares to him as the original Frank-N-Furter). Also included are Eddie, played by Adam Lambert (which part of him did they use?), and Dr. Everett Scott, played by Ben Vereen.  Brad and Janet get pulled into the schemes of these Transylvanians and discover that their hosts are not at all "sane persons." This version also uses a Usherette, played by Ivy Levan, who introduces the movie.

First off- I am very disappointed in the family friendliness of this version. I know that it is on a prime time slot but Rocky in boxers and not a speedo? Frank-N-Furter in actual clothes and not a skimpy corset? Trying to cut down on the grittiness and dirtiness of the original doesn't work for me. It is suppose to be barely hidden and really out there, not diluted into a movie you can watch as a family.

Starting off with the movie with an actually woman singing Science Fiction/Double Feature, was fine, I didn't mind the set up for the movie and the Usherette and she seemed to be having fun with it but the movie started off with my going "really a the fake live audience" I am all about breaking the forth wall but inconsistently cutting back and forth with the fake audience watching the movie is just distracting and stupid. This isn't Elvira and if you are going to cut into a movie it needs to flow with it.



I do really like the casting of Janet and Brad, and although they are different than Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, they are going with the movie and act it in a tongue and cheek way that I really enjoyed. I like the over the top acting and campiness of their acting and the moments where they are in the movie are my favorite. They were a great casting choice. Of the three: Riff Raff, Columbia, and Magenta; I like them in that order. Riff Raff is good but in a shake and go wig (there are a lot of these in this movie), Colombia is different and besides the sucker prop I think she is works and I liked her more and more as the movie went on and really enjoyed her at the end; but I didn't like Christina Milian as Magenta, she just doesn't have the right level of camp/ seriously that I would like to see, plus her accent goes in and out, it was just a generic performance that anyone could have done. I did like Adam Lambert as Eddie, besides another shake and go wig, and he was able to pull off the rocker feel that I think the movie was going for. Dr. Scott is good except for another shake and go wig, but I am good with the Albert Einstein feel they are going for. I cant even say anything against Tim Curry, I love that he is able to be in this version and like how they added the assistant to help him.

This gets me to Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and I tried, I really tried to like her but I just can't. I can see that she is trying, but I really think she was a bad casting choice. I was uncertain about her when I heard that she was going to be in the staring role of the Rocky Horror remake and I tried to get past the costuming (which isn't her fault) but she just doesn't have the loveable and charismatic factor that Tim Curry had. She had a lot to live up to and doesn't. I think that it was a risk to pick her for this role and I would have liked it if they went all the way with it, she may have been better is she wasn't being played in so safe  way. She didn't seem to be having fun as she was making this movie. I will give her that I liked the scene of "Wise Up, Janet Weiss but that is because the whole sequence goes for a darker feel and she was playing off of Victoria Justice who was the stand out for me.



The overall feel of the movie was alright, but I would have liked the inside of the castle to not look so much like the inside of a sound stage and it was too shiny. Like there wasn't any dust or lived in feel of any part of the inside (the outside of castle at the end also was very fake and the CGI was television poor). I wanted to see dust on the mummy in the clock. Wanted the room to seem more grand with the party, and there was no elevator. It seemed like with the Transylvanians there was a forced punk rock feel but it was going for mainstream punk rock. And might I add they the chorography for "Lets Do The Time Warp Again," had them moving their knees out when they should have been bringing them in tight.

I didn't like how the "Touch-a, touch-a, touch-a, touch me" scene was in a bedroom (really) and although Janet was good and did way better than a lot of people would have with that blocking and choreography, Rocky couldn't keep up with her, and how did they teleport into the tank from the bed? With the dinner scene why are they all on the one side of the table, the movie completely plays to the camera.  But this did allow Columbia to continue to grow on me and by the end of the movie I have come to appreciate her version of this character.  Plus why are they all on the one side of the table, the movie completely plays to the camera. But what was with "Rose Tint My Window" I mean really, however Brad was fun during these sequences. Frank-N-Furter just didn't engage my emotions to care about "I'm going home" she is not a character that you feel sorry for, and this is where they bring back the stupid fake audience. It also shows Riff Raff outshines Magenta (no comparison). I don't like how it took so long for Janet's hair to get messy at the end, it again shows how this movie was too put together and that didn't work for me. And then it just ended, but it didn't.



So overall, I think that the movie was better than I was expecting, there were some good parts (Janet, Brad, Columbia) and some bad parts (Frank-N-Furter) and mainstream production feel, which is the exact opposite of the cult classic it was a remake of. I think this mainstream-ing of the movie was the downfall of it. It they went for a 10pm slot instead of the 8pm and allowed it to be more dirty and gritty it would have been an alright newer version. Although I did like it enough that I will probably watch parts of it again and I don't hate it. Thinking over it, this will not replace or even come close to the joy I have for the originally The Rocky Horror Picture Show but it tried. It felt like it was a made for TV family movie, but when you think about the movie and story, it isn't suited for a family viewing.

My Rating: 2-