The Purge meets Running Man, but as a comedy. This is how I would describe the new film which debuted on Amazon Prime this weekend, Jackpot, starring Awkwafina and John Cena.

The film is set in the near future where California had passed a law saying that their lottery jackpot winners could be hunted and killed within a day and whoever killed them would receive the jackpot instead. This is a bizarre premise, but it certainly speaks to the selfishness and greed of the human race.

Struggling actor Katie Kim (Awkwafina) accidentally wound up in the lotto drawing and won the largest jackpot in the state’s history, 3.6 billion dollars. She did not even realize that she had won and she was unaware of the strange rules associated with the win. So when people started trying to kill her, Katie was shaken.

That is when Noel (John Cena) arrived and offered his help, for 10% of the winnings, to keep her alive until the bell rang, signaling that the chance to kill her and collect the winnings had passed.

This was really stupid. The premise is slightly interesting and yet this felt way too easy for everyone to be involved. Some of the dialogue was atrocious and they were forcing humor into the film at times.

And yet, I did not hate this movie. I do not know why, but I found myself reasonably entertained by this mess.

I think the biggest part that I liked was the presence of Awkwafina and John Cena. They were really funny and had great timing, taking the admittedly weak writing and making it considerably better. Their interactions were great and I was willing to put up with what the movie had going on because I enjoyed their comradery.

I also enjoyed the appearance of Simu Liu, who appeared as a rival Lottery Protector of Noel, just at an apparently larger level. It was a Shang Chi reunion with Simu Liu and Awkwafina.

I am not saying that this is a great movie. It clearly is not. I am saying that I had fun watching it and that it will probably fall into my guilty pleasure category. As for the rating, I am not recommending it to anyone, but if you are a John Cena fan, there is a lot that you will find to enjoy.

2.8 stars

Based on a true story, My Penguin Friend is a sweet tale of a penguin that befriends a man who had save him after being covered with oil.

The penguin, nicknamed Dindim by another character in the movie, has bridged the gap between humans and penguins, spending part of the time with the penguins and then a chunk of the time miles away with Joao (Jean Reno).

The film started out with a tragedy from the past for Joao and his wife Maria (Adriana Barraza). The tragedy darkened the lives of the couple for years before the little penguin showed up to give them purpose once again.

I have to say that a couple of the kids in this movie are just charming as could be. In particular, Juan José Garnica, who played Miguel, was remarkably bright and had a smile worth a million dollars. He shone through the early scenes of the film.

Yes, some of this film was cheesy and silly, but what did you expect with a protagonist that was a penguin? The really silly parts did not detract from the film for me and helped build that relationship between Dindim and Joao, inspired from the tragedy of his past.

The film looked great and many of the scenes of the penguins felt real. I am not sure if this was CGI or if they had shots of real penguins, but the fact that I was not sure tells you how effective the effects were.

The story was also surprisingly emotional at times, as I found myself nearly tearing up during a few moments.

While the film is not overly deep or complex, there are some solid themes in it about friendship and loss that make this more than just a funny animal story. This was a decent film that, at just over 90 minutes, does not overstay its welcome.

3.5 stars

One of last week’s big hit film made my schedule this week with the Blake Lively film, It Ends With Us.

According to IMDB, “IT ENDS WITH US, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the compelling story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future“

I am very much on the fence about this movie. I am not sure how I felt about it. I found this to be a tough watch, making me feel uncomfortable and sordid. The whole fact about domestic abuse is a challenging subject to weave into the storyline, but this film does a decent job with it. The abuse is shown to be done by real people, not just one-dimensional villains. It is by real people who have problems in their lives. It is even true that when the abuser swears that they will never do it again, they mean it. They are just unable to keep the promise because their own issues overwhelm themselves.

Blake Lively does a good job as the lead protagonist. You can see the relationship between her and Ryle and there are some of the understanding why abused women try to make it work.

Jenny Slate, who played Lily’s best friend Allysa, stole every scene she was in. I thought she was the best part of the film.

There was a long time that they spent on a flashback that we did not know why or how it played into the story. It did come back eventually, but it was quite a while before we understood why these flashbacks were relevant to the current story.

I feel that this movie needed some rework, adjusting the story and making it tighter. The flashbacks were plenty, but it took too long to show us the reason for their inclusion. Good performances are here and it had its moments. I am still unsure how I feel fully, but I think I lean toward positive.

3 stars

It has been awhile since a film from the Alien franchise has really hit. Alien: Romulus, directed by Fete Alvarez, is the film that has broken that streak.

The best Alien film since the original two films with Sigourney Weaver, Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus is tense, frightening, full of action and amazing to look at.

Planning to escape their nowhere jobs, a group try and convince Rain (Cailee Spaeny) to come with them to salvage cryogenic pods from a derelict space station floating above the planet’s surface. With these pods installed in their own ship, they could afford to take the nine-year journey to find a new life.

Rain has a “brother” named Andy (David Jonsson) who was actually an android and the group needs him to override security aboard the space station.

Of course, they find more aboard the space station than they expected and it leads to some awesome action sequences, some of the most creative of the franchise. And it has a surprise connection to the past that is a wonderful bit.

I was unfamiliar with the entire cast of Alien: Romulus, however, I found they all did a really great job. A couple of the characters did not have much depth to them, but it did seem as if the film did its best with the time it had to give each character a hook in which the audience could relate to them.

The film does start a little slowly, but it picks up the pace extremely well and the third act is just completely thrilling and unbelievable. The third act is bonkers and filled with amazing scary imagery and situations.

The special effects are fantastic and the alien creatures look beautifully horrifying.

When this was first announced, I was not sure this was a film I needed. It felt like this franchise has runs its course. Then, a master filmmaker like Fete Alvarez gets his hands on the franchise and breathes life into it, bringing it back to the forefront of monster movies.

I will admit that some of the trailers may have given away too much. If you can avoid those before going in, the experience may be a richer one. Either way, this is a great film.

4.8 stars

One of the big winners from the festival circuit continued its gradual release with the coming-of-age film Didi.

According to IMDB, “In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.“

Much like many independent films, Didi focuses on character development and not necessarily plot. It works very well with this film as we meet Chris (Izaac Wang), a thirteen-year old boy who is struggling through the world of teenagers, preparing to go to high school.

Chris, nicknamed Wang-Wang, lives with his mom (Joan Chen), grandma (Zhang Li Hua), and sister (Shirley Chen), dealing with issues with each of them. He is goin through the awkwardness of a crush and trying to be cool.

Much like many of the kids this age, Chris is not that likable, but you can see the heart of gold beneath his jerk persona.

The film is funny, touching, relatable in every way, and honest beyond reproach. Izaac Wang does a solid job and his grandma, Zhang Li Hua steals every scene she is in. Didi can be brutal to its characters with moments of heartbreaking angst. Dialogue is true to the source and early days of social media plays a role in the life of Chris.

4.5 stars

Violence. Gore. All on a train.

Man, this one was brutal.

I have been waiting to watch this Indian Hindi-language movie for awhile now. It has been on Vudu for several weeks, but the timing just did not line up well. I am very pleased that I was able to get this one in the schedule because “Kill” truly was an experience.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “When army commando Amrit (Lakshya) finds out his true love Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) is engaged against her will, he boards a New Delhi-bound train in a daring quest to derail the arranged marriage. But when a gang of knife-wielding thieves led by the ruthless Fani (Raghav Juyal) begin to terrorize innocent passengers on his train, Amrit takes them on himself in a death-defying kill-spree to save those around him — turning what should have been a typical commute into an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride.“

What a thrill ride of a film. Take John Wick (without guns) and toss in some The Raid Redemption action and set the whole thing aboard a claustrophobic train and you have got Kill. A film where the title does not pop up on screen until the forty-five minute mark.

Lakshya as our lead commando is just awesome and they make him relatable as well. He goes through the proverbial wringer during this knock-down battle with knives and hammers and anything else that could be construed as a weapon. The switch in Amrit was cold, changing from the heroic type to a cold-blooded monster that had even the villains sobbing in grief and anguish.

The fights on this train are amazing. They are brilliantly laid out and they are perfectly shot. You believe in each of the moments and every minute of these fights are earned among the characters.

Once the beginning exposition is through, the action is non-stop until the very end. It is truly one of the most violent action films I have seen in quite a while.

Kill has some surprising moments of emotion among the brutality and it helps to make the film more relatable and understandable than it should be. It is a real bloodbath and thrilling film.

4.3 stars