Encyclopedia Brown.  Frank and Joe Hardy.  Nancy Drew.  Timmy Failure.  Ruby Redfort.  The Baudelaire orphans.  Artemis Fowl.

These are just some of the lead characters from detective/mystery stories written for younger children, many of which have had their own adaptations to live-action/animated movies or TV shows.  You can add another name to the list:  Agatha Christine.

This animated movie is a lot of fun, focusing on the young girl, Agatha, who sometimes went by AC, in her attempt to become a successful detective so she could save money to get a dog.  Her goal is put to the test when she and her family moved to a new home.

Along with Agatha, there is her mother, the police officer, her older sister Sarah, and her toddler brother Kevin.  The three of them are trying to get a fresh start.  However, Agatha remains interested in her detective work.

Soon, Agatha gets her first case, trying to discover who was stealing from the local store.  She has a time line to solve the case, but she is distracted by another mystery with the next door neighbor Vincent, a boy with bags in his eyes.

This reminded me a lot of the Timmy Failure: Mistakes were Made film from Disney +.  Young kid wants to be a detective, has an active imagination and works cases.  Much like that film, this is very family friendly and actually has a nice little mystery that develops over the course of the narrative.  Then, Timmy Failure has a polar bear, Agatha has an animal in her life too.  This was the strangest part of this entire film.

We see that Agatha had found an egg and she was taking care of it.  The egg hatched, revealing a young Varanen, a monitor lizard.  Thing was that this animal talked.  The inclusion of this monitor lizard was bizarre.  The lizard seemed to be very verbally abusive toward Agatha, tying to convince her to get focused back on her robbery case.  He was also always hungry and, as he rapidly grew, he provided me with several moments where I thought he might actually be a danger.  Specifically, there were at least two occasions that I thought he had eaten the little boy, Kevin.  The use of this character was truly the oddest piece of this film.  He did create anxiety in me though as I was just not sure if this film would go to that extreme.

Everything, story-wise, fit together nicely at the end (although the whole monitor lizard thing dangled a bit) and everything worked very well.

I enjoyed the animation here for a change.  It was a different style that we have not seen before.  It was definitely a cartoon style that was simple, but worked very well with what the movie was trying to do.  The times when Agatha went into her daydreams or imagination the animation changed into black and white and really was striking.  Character design was nicely done as well, with the little touches adding traits to each of the characters.

I did have fun with this movie and I think families, kids in particular, will enjoy this movie quite a bit.  Little kids may not make the connections with the carnivorous monitor lizard that I did and may not have been as creeped out by it as I was.  They may not wonder if that lizard had eaten poor Kevin.

3.5 stars 

This feels like the wrong time for this film to come out.

But beyond the timing, there are plenty of other issues with this overlong mess of a movie.  It is not sure what it wants to be.  Is it a heist film?  Is it a revenge film? Is it supposed to be a science fiction film?  Does it take elements of all of these?  None of them were done well.

It was based on a Rick Remender graphic novel of the same title.  I loved Rick Remender so I am very sad that this heap of garbage could come from something that he created.  Not having seen the graphic novel it was based on, I can only assume that they took the story and wrecked it.

This is like a bad Purge movie combined with Hardcore Henry and Minority Report, only without any of the creativity.  Graham Bricke (Edgar Ramirez) had his brother murdered, though it was supposed to be a suicide, and Kevin Cash (Michael C. Pitt), the son of an infamous gangster, and black market hacker Shelby Dupree (Anna Brewster), approach Bricke with a plan to steal millions and cross the Canadian border before the government activates a signal, called the American Peace Initiative,  that will lead to people being incapable of committing any crime.

The story is a mess.  The acting is basic, without anyone standing out.  The action is dumb and wasteful.  Very little makes sense and it staggers around for a really long 148 minutes.  It feels even longer.

Of course, with the real world outside, perhaps this was not the best time to release this film.  The fascist messaging and creation of this dystopian world seems like poor taste at the best.  There is no escapism here.

No characters that make sense.  The world is not given enough time to understand what it is like (a sad state for such a long freaking movie).  Sharlto Copley is here too as a character that is totally extraneous and wasted.

Directed by Olivier Megaton, whose previous films included the horrid Taken 2 and Taken 3, The Last Days of American Crime is just a brain dead dump.

1 star

I found a new film that appeared on Amazon Prime today called The Vast of Night.  That was a title that was intriguing and I was not sure what it meant.

It is the 1950’s in a small town in New Mexico.  The young teenager Fay (Sierra McCormick) went to her job at the telephone switchboard, walking with local radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) on the way.  As she was switching calls, Fay hears a strange noise come across the radio.  This same sound came across the phone lines.  Curious, she called Everett at the radio station and they began an investigation into the mysterious sound.

I was really engaged in the story.  There was not a lot of action, so there are going to be people who think it is boring.  However, I found the dialogue and the monologues spoken by the characters to be compelling and thoroughly entertaining.  The monologues are delivered with a remarkable mood that creates a wonderfully creepy tone.

The film has an independent feel that, while may make the third act revelation a tad cheap looking, work for most of this movie.  The low budget look adds to the aura of the film and gives us the tone of the 1950’s movies.

Performances are solid from a group of actors who I had never seen before.  Jake Horowitz was a standout as the DJ.  These actors delivered strong performances and created their specific and developed characters mostly through their dialogue.

There was also a fascinating framing mechanism used in the film where the film made it look like it was a Twilight Zone-like show.  The use of the old fashion TV screen as a transition technique helped make this feel like that anthology show.  It fed right into the mood of the film.

If you are into old time movies and are nostalgic for the old sci-fi films of the 1950’s, you’ll probably get a kick out of this.  It is a slow burn, but it is worth the time.

4 stars 

This is the number one movie in the U.S. Box Office this week.

Strange, I know.  This is a horror movie that is being shown in a few of the drive-in theaters and the handful theaters of brick and mortar that are open.  I heard about this film being top of the box office from Dam Murrell’s YouTube show Charts with Dan.

Now, of course, we are not talking about massive amounts of money here.  Most of the theaters in the country are still closed down.  According to the last Box Office Mojo website, last week The Wretched made $216, 000.

Then, I found the film on Vudu and I rented it.

In The Wretched, a troubled teen Ben (John-Paul Howard) goes with his father Liam (Jamison Jones).  His parents were getting a divorce and it was causing serious problems for him.  However, it is not long after when he realizes that something strange was happening at their neighbor’s house.  There is a 1000-year old witch posing as the mother next door and making people forget about children.

I liked this movie for the most part.  The young actors are all solid and there is a tension in the plot that creates a anxiety in the viewers minds.  They play upon the uncertainty of what was happening and the creepiness of the witch.

There are some horror tropes that are in heavy use here.  One is the father who does not believe his child.  I can understand why he may not, but it is something that happens regularly in horror.  Now, to be fair, Liam actually comes around pretty quickly after Ben tells him about the witch, and, at least, there have not been a ton of mysterious things happening that the father just ignores.  Still, it is something that happens regularly.

I was very disappointed with the ending of the film too.  The last scene of the film truly takes the film off its rails and wastes everything that came before it.  Again, the twist end is a horror trope that this film applies.  I did not like the ending.

The rest of the film was pretty decent.  I have seen better horror movies, but for a small film, this is much better than many horror movies.  Despite the by the numbers plot, if you can find it, it is worth a watch, especially if you enjoy horror.

3.1 stars

Originally scheduled for release in the theaters on April 3rd, the world of COVID-19 changed a lot of things.  One of those changes was the release of the comedy The Lovebirds starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani.  Instead of a nationwide release in movie theaters, The Lovebirds made their way to Netflix.

Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae) were an unmarried quarrelsome couple who had been together for several years.  When they wind up in a strange conspiracy involving senators and blackmail, they have to try to figure out what was happening before they are hauled into the police for murder.

I am going to say this right away.  The plot of this movie is a mess and makes little sense.  However, the movie is not about the plot.  The plot is extra.  This movie is all about the relationship between Jibran and Leilani, and depends solely on the chemistry and likability of its two main stars.  That likability with Rae and Nanjiani is off the charts.

This movie is funny, enjoyable and light because of the interactions between the two main stars and nothing else.  They are dropped into several ridiculous situations but they are so charming and engaging that you are not bothered by the implausible circumstances that they find themselves in.  It is just a hoot.

I do wish that the trailers that had been shown for this movie before it moved to Netflix had not shown as much as it did.  This is a problem in Hollywood where the trailers show just too many of the best jokes in a comedy. There are still good moments here, and the sweet connection between them still shines through, but I wish I had seen some of these jokes for the first time in the actual movie.

The Lovebirds is anything but original and the story is a messy, but the humor and breezy chemistry of Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are undeniable and fill up the screen.  Both of them have better movies in their futures as they are stars, but this one is a nice, fun steppingstone for now.  It certainly makes for an entertaining evening at home watching Netflix.

3.7 stars 

My Hindu Friend was directed by internationally acclaimed Argentine-Brazilian director Héctor Babenco.  Babenco had fallen ill in 1994 and needed to undergo a bone marrow transplant to battle a lymphatic cancer.  This background informs the subject matter of this film, ironically his final film.

In My Hindu Friend, Diego Fairman (Willem Dafoe), a film director, is diagnosed with a cancer that, if not treated with a bone marrow transplant, would, according to his doctors, end his life in three months.  The cancer had been ravaging his body and his spirit, but the support of the beautiful Livia (Maria Fernanda Cândido), a woman he meets and marries, helps him make the decision to pursue the transplant.

Returning to his family in America after years of being separated, Diego’s brother (Guilherme Weber) is a match for the bone marrow.  Their complicated history made this difficult.

On the edge of death, Diego is visited by an unknown man (Selton Mello) who has an unlikely job to do.

During the recovery time for Diego, he meets a young Hindu boy (Rio Adlakha) in the hospital that he befriends and tells a series of stories.

This film shook me up a couple of times.  The first act of this movie was extremely difficult for me to sit through.  I have a tendency toward hypochondria and films with medical scenes and illnesses are tough for me.  The scenes at the beginning with Diego going through his treatments and his after effects were powerful, almost too powerful, for me.  The only thing that helped me as I went through that section were the separating of these medical scenes with a series of surreal scenes involving Mello and Diego’s imagination.  The realistic and surreal scenes were constantly in a struggle in the film.

Throughout the whole film, there was one major constant, and that was the performance of Willem Dafoe.  Dafoe has shown himself to be an extraordinary actor in the roles that he has been choosing over the last few years, and this one is no exception.  Dafoe is raw and emotional, echoing the pain of his treatment and the frustration of the situation, in every glance and every look.  He emoted such anguish across the entire story.

Dafoe’s performance is even more amazing considering he is able to forge a connection with the audience despite playing a character that is a horrible human being.  There are several scenes in this film that made me think that the creators of this movie were specifically trying to make me hate Diego, but, no matter how much I disliked him, I could never fully dismiss the character and that was totally on the back of Willem Dafoe.

The scenes between Dafoe and the young Rio Adlakha were simple, yet they humanized this man more than anything could.  During these moments, Diego was able to put aside his own concerns and selfishness for the few moments of joyous play and imagination.

The film did feel long as it dragged a bit in the middle.  The ending was inspiring however, as Diego, who had split with Livia, found a free-spirited woman (Barbara Paz) who seemed to bring Diego back to life.  The ending dance scene was beautiful.

This was a tough watch for me.  The first act made me extremely uncomfortable, but the film picked up significantly for me when Diego met with the young Hindu boy.  Despite the fact that I think Diego was a rotten human being, I could not expel him completely because of the epic performance from Willem Dafoe.

3.5 stars

Scooby-Doo was a personal favorite of mine.  Truthfully, I liked most of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon catalog, but I cheered for the Scooby-Doobies in the Laff-A-Lympics.  So you would think that this new adaptation of the world of Hanna-Barbera would be right up my alley.  And for much of the run time of Scoob!, I would say that I was in.

Scoob! gives us a glimpse at the original meeting between Norville “Shaggy” Rogers (Will Forte) and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) and how the new friends became a part of Mystery Inc. with Fred (Zac Efron), Daphne (Amanda Seyfried) and Velma (Gina Rodriguez).

Unfortunately, that part of the animated film only lasts the first 10-15 minutes.  I would have liked more of that.  I can say that I was still in with the story at this point.

With the arrival of Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg), Dyno-Mutt (Ken Jeong) and Dee Dee Skyes (Kiersey Clemons), the story becomes more convoluted and complicated.  The Blue Falcon (actually the son of the original Blue Falcon) was trying to stop arch villain Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) from finding some magical skulls and kidnapping Scooby to open a portal to another dimension.

This resulted in a massive third act battle sequence that was over stuffed with stuff and unnecessary plot points.  It did feel like most of Scoob! was designed to do world building, introducing a series of characters from the Hanna-Barbera animation to a new generation.  Many of these were crammed into the film and, despite being a fan of many of the characters that appeared, could have been done without.

However, there were actually quite a few jokes or dry humor that hit with me.  Moments that I was laughing at the writing and the humor- in a positive manner.  There is a reason why these characters have lasted as long as they have.  There have been many iterations of the Scooby Gang over the years, some good and some not so good, but it does carry on.

The animation was very good and the film had that bright color aspect that many of the animated movies have these days.  This will be great for young kids, keeping their attention and introducing them to the world of Hanna-Barbera.  Because of that, you have to consider the film somewhat of a success. Long time fans of Scooby Doo are most likely going to find enough here to trip that nostalgia trigger and bring back happy memories of “meddling kids” and third act unmaskings.  I do think that there was the outlines here to have made this a fantastic animated revival of Scooby-Doo, but the film comes up short on that level.

Scoob! is a mixed bag, but I did enjoy more than I did not.

3.6 stars.  

Josh Trank had a terrible downward spiral after the failure of the big budget FOX film, Fantastic Four.  After an ugly situation with that film, Trank is back with a biopic on the ending moments of the life of infamous gangster Alphonse “Al” Capone.

This movie is not your typical gangster flick.  Far from it.  After spending several years in prison for tax evasion, Capone was released due to his suffering from syphilis and dementia.  He would live out his remaining life at his house in Florida.

This movie tells that story, as it showed the mental deterioration of Capone, called “Fonzo” by everyone around him, but it detailed the guilt and anguish from his monstrous life.  There are moments in the film that you are not sure exactly what was going on and it turned out to be within his head.  These scenes made the film feel very nightmarish, very surreal.

Tom Hardy was truly transformative as Capone, having his brain rotting from the syphilis.  His performance as Fonzo was raw and powerful.  He went through such a physical and mentally suffering as this character and he made you a believer.

Linda Cardellini played Mae, Capone’s wife and carries a heavy load during this movie.  She gives a strong performance as the woman taking care of Fonzo through some of the most horrifying uncontrolled moments of his life.

There were some times during the film that the pacing felt a little off.  The film seemed to be longer than it was.  Still, the film is certainly a character piece and the plot is not of the most importance.  This is about Al Capone and what he is going through.  There is a plot point about $10 million dollars that Capone supposedly had buried somewhere, but it was not that important.  The lack of the plot did cause the film to drag a bit.

The film is held together from the great performances and the look at the unexpected end of the life of Al Capone.  Tom Hardy gets to show a level of acting that you do not expect.

3.3 stars

The Lodge has arrived on streaming today and I had heard a lot of split feelings on it.  I was excited to see it.

Richard (Richard Armitage) told his wife Laura (Alicia Silverstone) that he wanted a divorce because he had fallen in love with Grace (Riley Keough), a woman he met while writing a book about her childhood inside a suicide cult.  This led to Laura’s suicide.

The children, Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh), blamed Grace for their mother’s suicide, creating a tense and uncomfortable situation.  Richard decided to take his family to a lodge over Christmas to hopefully make up some ground.  Unfortunately, Richard had to go to work for a couple of days and he leaves the children alone with Grace.  Then, a snowstorm hits stranding them.

It turned out that Grace required medication to keep her mental health in check, as she suffered from memories of her dark past.

This film is a slow burn.  The pace of the film is slow and went in circles for a chunk of the film while they are at the lodge.  The film tried to make you feel that certain things were happening and tried to keep the audience uncertain.

The Lodge is definitely going to try to make the audience uneasy, uncomfortable and disturbed.  To be fair, the film is not that scary.  It is more of a psychological thriller than it is a horror movie.

Honestly, there was nobody here to really cheer for.  Everybody was horrible.  The children were cruel to Grace, who was only trying to get to know them, and Grace was keeping the medication from Richard.  The film was not sure who it wanted to focus upon which did not help with the audience’s choice.

The story here is messy and requires the audience to accept a lot of weird choices and coincidences.  Throw in the uncertainty of what was happening and the lack of a person to root for, The Lodge had some issues for sure.

It is not the worst film of the year, but, it did not really try to tell you a story. It tried to make you feel disturbed and unnerved.  It succeeded in that.  However, there is just not enough after those feelings for The Lodge to be considered a well done movie.

2.5 stars 

The latest Warner Brothers Animation wrapped up a series of the recent animated movies in its own Endgame style story.  It is an adaptation of the comic storyline, The Darkseid War, and concluded the 15 film arc from the DC Animated Universe.

I have to say, this was considerably better than the film that it is a direct sequel of, Justice League Dark.  They do a considerably better job of avoiding the excessive exposition, which weighed down the last film.  This film moves smoothly from scene to scene and they brought in different characters beautifully.

The film starts off with Superman (Jerry O’Connell) bringing the Justice League together and planning on launching a preemptive attack on Apokolips to destroy Darkseid (Tony Todd) and his forces.  Unfortunately, Darkseid knew they were coming and it turned into a slaughter.

The film jumps into the future and the earth is in a terrible state and Darkseid is robbing the earth of its molten core.  Batman (Jason O’Mara) has been controlled and is Darkseid’s new right hand man.  A de-powered Superman is recruiting survivors for another attempt to stop Darkseid.  He started with John Constantine (Matt Ryan).

The film does a great job of bringing in other characters, such as the Suicide Squad, Swamp Thing (Roger Cross), and Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan).  Etrigan (Ray Chase) is seemingly the “Fat Thor” of this film.

Most of the main characters here get to have a moment in the film.  Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Robin, Constantine, Etrigan, Captain Boomerang, Cyborg, Raven, and Lois Lane have their big time moments and they feel as if each of the character earns them.

There were some things that I was uncertain about such as the use of Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), but I do not think that I have seen anywhere close to the 15 animated movies that would have proceeded this film.  I went with the film though as I preferred that than going over everything again.

I do think there might be some issues to those who do not have the background with DC Comics as I do.  It definitely helped as I watched.

Yes, the animation continued to be below what it should be.  I will say that I thought the animation here was better than it has been before.  I still think that this animation is too choppy and brings down the level of quality overall.

Overall though, I think this is an excellent film and does a great job of wrapping up the series of movies.  This uses the great DC characters in extremely positive manner.  It will be interesting how the animation at DC will move forward after this.

4.3 stars

I received an e-mail from TriCoast Entertainment, a company in California, offering EYG an opportunity to review a movie called Tombstone Rashomon.  The e-mail described it as a “Western mockumentary” filmed in the style of the Japanese classic Rashomon, from director Akira Kurosawa.  I had been looking recently to increase my exposure to the Western genre and this sounded intriguing.  I agreed to review the film, which looked to have been originally released in some form around 2016/17.  It was directed by Alex Cox (Sid and Nancy, Repo Man).

To prepare for this film, I did watch the classic Rashomon by Kurosawa, which introduced the concept of the Rashomon Effect.  The Rashomon Effect is a term that indicates that different eye witnesses might give different stories of the same event, whether it be because of a differing point of view or an attempt to make oneself look better.  This has been used as a point in many movies since Rashomon.

In this mockumentary, the true life story of Tombstone, specifically, the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” is told through a series of interviews with the survivors.  According to the film, a time traveling video crew arrived in Tombstone, but they arrived one day too late so they were forced to tell the story of the gunfight via the survivors’ eye witness testimony.  This was a problem.

The science fiction aspect of this mockumentary is kept at the bare minimum, and, though the concept is captivating, I have to wonder why it was used.  There were a few moments of futuristic storytelling (such as the appearance of a police car during one fo the recounts) that felt jarring.  The voice of the interviewer (Susan Sebanc) had a robotic tinge to it, which was an odd choice.

Beyond the strange use of sci-fi, the interviews were remarkably compelling and these character were truly brought to life by the writing and the solid performances of the able cast.

The questions posed by this time-traveling crew were meant to get to the bottom of what actually happened on October 26, 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, United States.  There was a violent confrontation between local lawmen Wyatt Earp (Adam Newberry), Marshal Virgil Earp (Jason Graham), Morgan Earp (Shayn Herndon) and John “Doc” Holliday (Eric Schumacher) and the outlaw band the Cowboys which included Ike Clanton (Benny Lee Kennedy), brothers Tom (Bradford Trojan) and Frank (Hayden Winston) McLaury, Billy Claiborne (Rogelio Camarillo Jr) and Billy Clanton (James Miller).  The Earps, who had had various issues with the Cowboys in the past, were on their way to disarm them.  Local sheriff John Behan (Jesse Lee Pacheco) attempted to keep the violence from breaking out, but turned into a bone of contention with a contradictory story.

The interviews in this mockumentary do a fantastic job of setting up the story and creating the uncertainty around exactly what had happened on Fremont Street in Tombstone.  They created moments of characterization allowing the audience to make their own determination at the character’s biases and the accuracy of their tale.  For example, Sheriff John Behan is shown in a light that makes me question certain details of his story.  I thought actor Jesse Lee Pacheco was one of the top interviews in the film.

Then there was the interview featuring Kate Horoney (Christina Doidge), aka Big Nose Kate, which detailed her time with Doc Holliday including a time when she had been plied with alcohol by the Sheriff and Milton Joyce (Barney Burman) in an attempt to get her to sign an affidavit against Holliday for crimes including a stage coach robbery.  This brought some extra color to the character of Holliday, but Kate’s constant use of the feminine pronouns “she” and “her” and her references to husbands being “wives” was somewhat confusing at first.  It eventually became humorous, and it was clearly meant to be a joke, but it did cause me some initial uncertainty about what was being said.

The mockumentary was well filmed and had some wonderful Western scenery.  The imagery of the time was on display throughout and really worked well with the story and the different versions being told.  The film was also effective when it flashed from current day Tombstone to 1881 Tombstone, keeping the feel of legacy in place.

After watching the mockumentary, I did some research on the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and I found that the film was extremely accurate in just about everything presented, including the differing stories.  It had an extremely correct historical accuracy, of course, with the exception of the time travel element.  I was very impressed with how they wove the different eye witness testimonies together to create a reasonably valid historical record (albeit with a time traveling crew and a police car).

I found Tombstone Rashomon to be an effective and engaging use of the mockumentary style, creating engaging characters and illustrating their stories in a manner that both serviced the characters and helped to inform the mysteries surrounding the historical narrative.  All performances were extremely well done and helped form these real life and, sometimes, famous people into gripping, fascinating characters.

3.9 stars 

One of the new films that appeared on Netflix this weekend is called Dangerous Lies, a mystery/thriller that, despite a few glaring issues and a title that was anything but unique, I enjoyed quite a bit.

Katie (Camila Mendes) and Adam (Jesse T. Usher) are a young married couple with their share of money problems that threatened to overwhelm them.  Katie gets a job working taking care of a well-to-do elderly man, Leonard (Elliot Gould).  After four months, Katie and Leonard had grown close.  Leonard’s sudden death caused uproar in her life, but not as much as when she discovered that Leonard had recently had written a will leaving everything to Katie.

I enjoyed watching this movie, but, I have to say, the more I sit here and reflect back upon it, the more I notice plot threads that are not handled, twists that are truly coincidental and problems with the narrative.

The film, at its core, is a story about how greed and the promise of money can destroy a person and that how even good people can make poor choices when they feel as if they have no other possibility.  As the story unfolds, Katie and Adam make so many dumb decisions that it became frustrating at times.  You can see the bad decisions playing out in front of your face but there was nothing that you could do about it.

The film does a good job of playing its central mystery as if anyone could be involved, but, truthfully, the reveal of exactly what happened had some glaring questions when reflecting back on it.

The performances are solid.  It is good to see Elliot Gould in the film, although his part was minimal.  Both Mendes and Usher are likable and you want to root for them even when you wonder about possible hidden motives.  Sasha Alexander played Detective Chesler, a detective who seemed to feel as if something was off.

Unfortunately, there are too many coincidences that happen and it stretches the credibility of the story.

Still, the film is dumb fun and I did like watching it.  It is one of those movies, I am guessing, that will slip from your mind quickly after watching it.  It is worth a Saturday at home if you’ve got nothing else to do.

3 stars 

The last animated movie that I watched on Netflix was Klaus in 2019.  That was my favorite animated movie from that year.  Is Netflix on a roll with animation?

If The Willoughbys are any indication, the answer to that question is a resounding yes!

The four Willoughby children, Tim (Will Forte), Jane (Alessia Cara), and the twins both named Barnaby (Seán Cullen) have bad parents.  I mean…really bad parents (Martin Short & Jane Krakowski).  Parents who neglect them and ignore them.  So the Willoughby children decide that the would be better off by themselves and they choose to orphan themselves by sending their horrible parents on an adventure around the world.  However, the parents hire the children a Nanny (Maya Rudolph) who may have an issue as well.

This movie reminded me very much of an animated version of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, only flipped backward.  There are some dark tones here as some terrible things are done and happen, but there is a positive theme underneath the negativeness.  It is also a very funny film, narrated by the Cat (Ricky Gervais).

The animation is very well done and the colors are off the charts.  The rainbow color theme is just the opposite of Lemony Snicket book series.

The Willoughbys is based as well on a children’s book and comes together extremely well.  It actually is a bit predictable, but it gets to that place in such an entertaining manner that I could forgive a few expected beats in the plot.

It did take awhile to get started, but once the film got going, I was engaged in what it was showing me.  A great voice cast, colorful animation and a clever written script made up for the predictable plot.  The Willoughbys is a fun time for a family.

4.25 stars 

On the one year anniversary of the release of Avengers: Endgame, we get the Russo Brothers, the directors of that film, producing something new with Chris Hemsworth (Thor) starring.  The movie started streaming on Netflix today.

Extraction, based on a graphic novel called Ciudad, is an action-packed, uber-violent, romp complete with amazing action set pieces and a breath-taking finale on a bridge.

The son (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) of an imprisoned international drug dealer is taken hostage by a rival group and Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), a black market mercenary, is hired to extract the kid from one of the most impenetrable cities in the world.  When the extraction goes wrong, Tyler is forced to go to extreme measures to attempt to complete the mission.

Chris Hemsworth is great in this adventure.  You believe every moment of his war and his determination was beautifully portrayed.  What I especially liked was that they made Hemsworth’s Tyler more than just a highly trained killer.  They gave him a story that informed on the character, one that provided some serious feelings for him.

Because of this, and the connection made by Tyler with the kid, Ovi, you really rooted for them to make it through this seemingly impossible mission.  The few quiet moments between the two characters are really done well and help create the relationship that the film uses in the louder moments.

There was some humor in the film and it did not feel out of place.  The Russos have a great track record for being able to create stakes for their characters without making it totally doom and gloom.  There was a scene with the “Goonies from Hell” that made me laugh out loud.  There was not an overabundance of humor by any stretch as the situation did not call for it.  Still, it was there.

Directed by Sam Hargrave, a former stunt coordinator for the MCU among others, does an admirable job in his directorial feature debut.  The action beats are well set up and you never have issues seeing what is happening.

What really elevates this above other Netflix action films is Chris Hemsworth.  He has not had a huge hit outside of the character of Thor, despite usually being one of the best parts of the films.  Here he truly carries the film on his large-sized back.  There is a feel of old school 1980’s thrillers with action heroes busting through bad guys.  It is extremely violent and filled with great action and I enjoyed the film.

4.4 stars

Another 39% on Rotten Tomatoes?  Another film that I enjoyed way more than the score shows.  I found the movie Wendy that popped up on Vudu today.  The Peter Pan story has had a hard run recently, but this film takes that tale in an all new direction.

Wendy (Devin France) and her older brothers, the twins Douglas (Gage Naquin) and James (Gavin Naquin), jump aboard a train, escaping their problematic lives.  Peter (Yashua Mack) leads the three of them to his island where they never grow old and stay young forever.

The re-imagining of the Peter Pan tale is done extremely well here, which is even more impressive considering how bad some of the other films involving it have been (e.g. Pan).  This has a more realistic feel to it than any other version of the story I have seen before.  I had an immediate feel of “The Lord of the Flies” to this movie.  The kids on their own, trying to create their own little world.

Some of the fantastical elements of the movie (specifically Mother) did not work as well as most of the film because this is simply did not make much sense.  You did not understand what Mother was or what abilities she had.  It was a mysterious part of the story that was underdeveloped.

However, the kids who aged, while also fantastical, was a much more fascinating story.  This was used as a way to bring into the story the new version of Captain Hook (Kevin Pugh).  The introduction of Hook was extremely emotional,tragic and very well done.

The kids did a great job leading this story.  Devin France as Windy was fantastic, but felt so much older than she was.  I pictured her as a much older person than what she was playing.  She has a distinct presence about her and could have a bright future.

I also found Yashua Mack to be charming and really a perfect Peter Pan.  He captured the style and the panache of the iconic character for a more realistic world.  The use of “flying” in this movie was done so well with the train and with the water and this technique was very creative.

Directed by Benh Zeitlin, the look of the shots and the cinematography is an even greater benefit for this movie.  It is unfortunate that I won’t have the chance to see this film on the big screen, because that would be an experience worth the time.

Though this is based on the classic children’s story, Wendy is not necessarily a film that would be good for children.  This is much more targeted for an adult audience with its slower storytelling and its adult language and themes.  Younger viewers may be bored during scenes that I found invigorating and life affirming.

This is way better than 39% and you should search this one out.

4 stars