DC Animation continues to be a top notch storytelling company, bringing some extra special stand alone content featuring DC superheroes and characters.

Yes, many of them include The Batman, which only makes sense since the Caped Crusader is arguably the most popular superhero character in the world.

This time, they toss Batman into the world of martial arts and they created a film honoring the different types of martial arts movies that have populated the genre for years.

Batman: Soul of the Dragon features Bruce Wayne (David Giuntoli) head back to his roots of his original training to recruit his former allies in order to stop a villainous cult from bringing back an evil god.

His associates included Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu) and Ben “The Bronze Tiger” Turner (Michael Jai white). Interestingly enough, three of these four characters are considered villains in DC Comics 9with Lady Shiva being an assassin). However, these characters are portrayed much differently here than they are in the comics.

The story is told both in present day and in flashbacks, featuring Bruce Wayne and his training with his O-Sensei (James Hong).

The film has some great animated martial arts action and does not skimp on the violence of the genre. I was shocked once at the decapitated head rolling off the screen. There are examples of all kinds of martial arts type films here, including Blaxploitation, snake monsters and Bruce Lee inspired action.

The animation itself is the regular DC Animated fare, passable, but anything but impressive. I have said for years that if the DC Animation company would invest some money in the animation, they could present some wonderful movies. As it is, the animation used here is fine. Unremarkable.

Batman feels like he is just a tag along on this adventure. He only dons his Bat suit a couple of times during the fights and he is far from the standout. While that is not the worst take for the character, there are plenty of Batman fans who may find this lacking because of the lack of Batman.

And the main villain of the story, simply put, looks just like a low budget Serpentor from the old G.I. Joe cartoons. I had a problem getting past that.

Still, taking this as a martial arts movie, Batman: Soul of the Dragon was a fun time and I was happy that I got a chance to watch it. The Elseworlds story could have been better, but it was a decent enough film.

3.75 stars

I was having trouble with the Apple TV app yesterday morning as I was attempting to watch their new streaming movie, Palmer starring Justin Timberlake. It would start up and then shut down saying that there was something wrong with the video (or that it was not available…something like that). It was frustrating and made me nervous for Cherry (with Tom Holland) which I am looking forward to this month.

However, I tried again last night and thankfully everything seemed to be straightened out and I was able to watch Palmer.

Eddie Plamer (Justin Timberlake) was a former star high school football player who got in trouble in college with drugs which led him to breaking the law. Eddie wound up in prison for his offenses and he spent 12 years behind bars.

During the time, Eddie was on his best behavior, straightening his life out. He was released and went back to his hometown to live with his grandmother Vivian (the always awesome June Squibb). Vivian, a wonderfully kind and giving person, temporarily took in the neighbor’s son Sam (Ryder Allen) when Sam’s mother Shelly (Juno Temple) ran off. This was something that was not uncommon, something that Vivian had done before.

So as Eddie is trying to find a job and rebuild his life, this young boy entered the picture. Sam was a unique boy, preferring non-traditional gender activities for a boy his age. Because of this, Sam was the victim of bullying at school and in the community.

The relationship between Eddie and Sam was the single most important relationship of the film. If it did not work, the film would immediately crash and burn. Fortunately, there is a strong connection between the actors and you can see how they bonded. I really loved the fact that Eddie, while uncomfortable at times, never looked down upon Sam because of his differences. Through the actions with Sam, you could see that Eddie was a really good person. Justin Timberlake and Ryder Allen gave us very strong performances and carried the film on their shoulders.

Again, I love June Squibb. Every time she is in a movie, I find myself drawn to her as an actor. I wonder if SPOILERS she ever gets tired of being cast in roles where she dies. It seems like she is always dying in the films she is in. Maybe she has reached a place in her life where she just does not give a crap. END OF SPOILERS.

Another great cast member here is Alisha Wainwright, who played Ms. Maggie, one of Sam’s teachers who fell into a relationship with Eddie. Wainwright glowed on the screen and there is just no doubt in my mind that she is a star in the making.

There were several moments in the film that I found to be so unrealistic in this type of film that took me out of it for some time. I had a hard time accepting that a school would hire Eddie as a custodian with his criminal record (especially with the violent nature of it). I love the idea of second chances and redemption, but I just have a doubt that it would happen. Especially in a community where we see a few times, including the sheriff, where people said to Eddie that he should not have been released from prison.

It also felt as if some of the conflicts of the story are handled in a simplistic way. I am not sure that everything would have worked out like it did most of the time. That gave the film a Lifetime movie vibe more than a big screen drama.

Though the story is simple, the strength of the chemistry between Timberlake and Allen do the heavy lifting for the film and you absolutely root for the pair to make it through their struggles. None of the problems I had with the situations took away from that and it did not affect my overall enjoyment of the film. Palmer was worth the effort of having to return to Apple TV to view it.

3.4 stars

Carey Mulligan is on quite the roll.

The actress just appeared in the sensational Promising Young Woman movie at the end of 2020, and now she stars in the newest Netflix film, The Dig, a true story about the discovery of a buried Anglo-Saxon ship just prior to the beginning of World War II.

Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) wanted to hire an excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the mounds on her property at Sutton Hoo. She believes there are treasures in the mounds. Brown bonds with Edith’s son Robert (Archie Barnes). When they make the massive discovery, everything changes.

The Dig is a fantastic film with some wonderful characters dealing with pain and loss and worry. Carey Mulligan was amazing once again and Ralph Fiennes plays off her so well. There is a couple of wonderful scenes from young actor Archie Barnes, who brings the emotions of loss that is brought forward from an airplane crash.

There is an interesting secondary romance involved here as well including Edith’s cousin Rory (Johnny Flynn) and one of the archeologists on site, Peggy (Lily James). Peggy was involved in a marriage where her husband was too connected to his work and we see her loneliness develop. This was a solid secondary story in the film that build more tension with everything around it.

There is not necessarily one simple throughline of a plot here though as there are several subplots that are brought together in the story. We see the events of this group of characters’ lives and they are mixed together around the idea of this dig. I found the lack of a central narrative a little weak, but the subplots are all so intriguing and well done that it did not bother me that much.

The cinematography and the images of the British countryside are beautiful and elegant. It is a visually stunning film that places these characters into some exceptional settings. There is a plane crash involved in the film too and the sequence of Rory trying to save the pilot is one of the most dramatic instances of the film.

As I said, the scenes are all so great (one with Ralph Fiennes being buried alive is utterly tense) that you aren’t bothered with the limited overall narrative.

The Dig is a very entertaining and lovely film with some top of the line performances of a cast that strong together some brilliantly written scenes into a engaging, if not completely connected, canvas.

4.2 stars

The next film released both in theaters (where safe) and on HBO Max by Warner Media hit the screen this weekend with the new Denzel Washington movie, The Little Things.

John Lee Hancock reportedly wrote this screen play for The Little Things in the 90s, but could not get it sold to a studio. Finally, he made the decision to be his own director and, because of the differences in time frame, this movie certainly has a feel of a 1990s thriller.

Washington played Joe Deacon, a former homicide detective who had a mysterious case that caused him to leave the LA police and become a local sheriff’s deputy. The case stuck with Joe, leading to a heart attack and a world of pain and anguish. When another case arrived in which Joe saw similarities, he returned to the LA police in hopes of putting the past behind him. He met up with a young star detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) and they begin to unofficially work together. The investigation led them to a real lowlife named Albert Sparma (Jared Leto), who they believed was their man. However, the film continued to make it unclear whether or not Sparma was indeed guilty of the murders.

There is no doubt that the cast of The Little Things is the standout piece of the film. Denzel Washington, Jared Let and Rami Malek all exceed in their performances, elevating the material that is on the page. The story of this film is nothing that you haven’t seen before and the reason this is not a total waste of time is because of these three actors.

Denzel in particular was exceptional as the aging officer who is haunted by his past. You can see the weight of the world on the shoulders of this character and you can see how he did not handle the weight very well. It cost him his marriage, his job and health.

Leto too does his normal transformation into a sleazeball character that the audience can despise. Yet, the film does a strong job of keeping the uncertainty of the guilt of the character in question.

I have seen some complaints about the third act of the film being unsatisfying, but I did not get that vibe. In fact, I thought the end was decent as it gives us a hint at what was going on.

The film does an admirable job of creating the atmosphere of the moment, giving it that throwback feel and making you wonder how these detectives could maintain their sanity dealing with the horrors on a regulars basis.

Again though, the biggest issue with the movie is that the story is cliché-ridden and without the great cast, it would not stand out of the genre at all. This one is not for everybody, but if you are a fan of Denzel Washington, he provides his usual strong work and has a nice interaction with Rami Malek. For me, this one is right on the border between recommendation and not.

3 stars

Here is the next Netflix movie that was originally released in October, but just arrived on the streaming service this weekend. 2020/2021 have been the bizarrest of years when dealing with movies.

I am not sure where to classify this when it comes to the year end stuff. Of course, in December, will I remember this one at all?

Vacationing married couple Christine (Maggie Q) and Neil (Luke Hemsworth) are on a beautiful tropical island of the coast of Thailand. Neil is a photographer who is doing a photo study on the natives. However, both husband and wife wake up one morning with no memory of the night prior. Finding a mysterious video on his phone, they discovered that Neil and Christine had sex and he then broke her neck and buried her.

Of course, she was apparently fine at the time they woke up in their room. The mysterious events were emphasized by physical issues for Christine that sent the pair on an investigation of what exactly had happened to them.

There was a great set up for this film. The mystery of what exactly happened when Neil apparently killed Christine was a great premise. Unfortunately, it was not as strong moving forward as it was in the first part of the film. I still found myself engaged in much of the film though it felt as if the third act really became continually confusing and convoluted.

Maggie Q was definitely the best part of the movie as the desperate Christine. Her performance was hectic and chaotic as Christine searched for answers against the backdrop of paranoia that the entire island was out to get her. I enjoyed the chemistry between Maggie Q and Luke Hemsworth too.

There are too many horror clichés in a film that had such an intriguing premise. There are good moments here as well, but the movie certainly could have been more than what it turned out to be.

2.9 stars

This one is wild.

It is hard to explain exactly what PG: Psycho Goreman is. It plays totally against the expectations of the viewers and embraces some of the worst characteristics of the human condition, and yet it does so with a remarkable energy and a biting humor that makes this one of the most entertaining films you are going to see.

Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and her older brother Luke (Owen Myre) were playing “Crazy ball” in their backyard, a game with rules that only they understand. Mimi is anything but kind hearted. In fact, an argument could be made that she is a horrendous brat with the worst attitude you will see in a film this year. She wins the game and so Luke has to dig his own grave (exactly how much of that was a joke is never truly mentioned). As he is digging, he uncovers a gem and Mimi takes it. Unbeknownst to them, they had opened a portal allowing an ancient evil demon (Matthew Ninaber), who had been banished by forces of heaven after a failed attempt to destroy the universe. However, the demon needed the gem back to fully gain his powers, and the gem gave Mimi the power to control him. So Mimi basically set him up as her family pet and used his power for her own desires.

You may believe that you will know where this is headed, but you would be wrong. This is as funny of a film as I have seen in awhile and it embraces the rottenness of the characters. Lessons are not learned. Behaviors are not altered. It is just fantastic.

The effects are done on the cheap side. Honestly, this feels like a cheaper version of the old Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers meets the Evil Dead. The effects are mostly (if not totally) practical and the budget clearly only allowed for so much. However, this played perfectly into the kind of movie that Psycho Goreman is and worked. In fact, had there been CGI involved, it feels as if the film would have suffered. The film is also very violent and filled with blood, but it felt very non-real. A lot of red liquid that is tossed around and B-movie creatures and their gross deaths.

These are not the typical characters you see in these movies. These characters feel as if they should all be the villains in the films. There are so few characters that you would normally root for that it adjusts your perception of the film. Yet you find yourself hoping for them to make it through.

Without the recommendation of the Critically Acclaimed podcast (with William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold), I never would have watched this film. So I owe them a thanks. The quirkiness and overall weirdness of PG: Psycho Goreman is a winning combination and I laughed more than I have in a while.

4.3 stars

Netflix’s new film is based on a book of the same title written by Aravind Adiga, which speaks directly to the caste system throughout the country of India.

Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) narrated the film, revealing his story coming from the poor villager in India to major entrepreneur. Through his personal efforts, Balram was able to become a driver for Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) and Pinky (Priyanka Chopra-Jonas), a wealthy couple from a powerful Indian family. Balram made himself indispensable to the couple. However, one on terrible night, Balram discovered his position in the family.

I enjoyed the film for the most part. It was an interesting story and I was intrigued into how Balram became the man he became. It looked good and the acting was solid.

I have to say that the subtitles were tough to read and I did miss some of them. I usually do not mind the subtitles, but these were quicker and more challenging this time.

Honestly, this was fine, but I am not sure that I will remember it in a month.

3.3 stars

I will be honest, the main reason that I watched this film, a film that was released originally in October of 2020 and just now released on streaming in January was that it came from Boom! Studios. Boom! is a company that also puts out comic books and is the company that is responsible for one of my favorite, if not my favorite, comic of the last few years, Something is Killing the Children. I discovered that The Empty Man is another horror based graphic novel that was released by Boom! Despite its low reaction on Rotten Tomatoes, I was now intrigued.

What I got was a bizarre, overly-long, supernatural horror film that had some truly big ideas and an ending that I am not sure about how I feel.

The Empty Man started with four friends climbing in the mountains. One of them, Paul (Aaron Poole) heard a whispering and wound up falling into a crevice. When he friends found him, they discovered that Paul had slipped into a comatose state despite not having any apparent injury. The fearsome skeleton that also was in this crevice should have given them a clue.

Then, the next day, Paul found himself, somehow, on the edge of one of the cliffs, blowing into a pipe of some kind. Then, unexpectedly, his three friends kill each other and they fall off the cliff. I have to say that I was not expecting that and I immediately was not sure what this movie was going to be about. Then the title came up and I could not believe that this was just the cold open. It had been a significant amount of time, but we had not yet gotten into the meat of the story.

We then meet James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), a former policeman who had left his job to grieve the death of his wife and son, who had died in a car crash. A friend of his, Nora (Marin Ireland), called him when her daughter Amanda (Sasha Frolova) had disappeared. An ominous message saying that “The Empty Man made me do it” was written in blood on her bathroom mirror.

The police were little help, so James decided to do some of his own investigating, connecting this to a doomsday cult in which he was afraid that Amanda had fallen into.

The movie is very atmospheric and darkly imagined. The imagery of the movie certainly played like the scenes of a dark, horror graphic novel. It was disturbing and, at times, frightening. The mystery of what was going on during this whole time was difficult to follow but does have a distinct wrap up.

The performances were fine, but I would not say that anything was a true standout. The short appearance of Steven Root as the cult leader was appropriately creepy, but the rest of the film lacked any true standouts.

There is no doubt that the movie is just too long and could have stood to be shorted by a good 30 minutes or so. At 2 hours and almost 20 minutes, The Empty Man can be a slog at times to get through. There are some really good moments here, but it gets bogged down. The lengthy run time needed more character development to truly be necessary.

It does not end in a feel good manner, so if you are expecting that, you will be disappointed. That is never a deal breaker for me, but I have to admit that I wanted some optimism in the conclusion somewhere.

It was not an unpleasant watch, but I am not sure that it is what I was hoping for. Though stylistic, I think I wanted more substance in the middle, especially for the length that it was.

2.75 stars

Netflix had a huge year in 2020 with a list of great movies released on the streaming service. 2021 is not starting out well for them.

Outside the Wire is the new sci-fi/action film starring Anthony Mackie. Set in the future, a drone pilot Lt. Harp (Damson Idris) disobeys orders and he makes a dangerous decision that winds up getting himself into trouble and sent to a specific place as a punishment. There, he meets Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie), an android officer, who is on his way for a mission to stop a Russian insurgent from getting nuclear codes.

While there are some decent action bits in the movie with some interest fire fights, there was little emotional depth to any of them, which tends to make them both hard to care about and easily forgettable. Typing this up right now just a few hours after watching the film, I cannot remember any specific action sequence worth the time in Outside the Wire.

Then, while Anthony Mackie is a charismatic actor with a remarkable screen presence, the film places him in a character that simply is not allowed to do that. There are a few flashes of Mackie’s charm here and there, but he is more of a hard nosed robot than a leading man. Damson Idris is shown in the first half of the movie in such an inconsistent manner that you’re never sure if you are meant to be rooting for the character or if he is meant to be the one learning about his own mistakes. He was very dislikable for much of the run time of the movie, which is not a good choice in the story that they are outlining.

The third act completely blows off the rails too. The first part of the film was dull and disposable, but the final half of the movie spends its time deconstructing just about everything that the movie set up in the first part. Without spoilers, there are some decisions made that make no sense and exist to simply give the narrative that twist that too many movies are expected to have.

By the way, there are not really any reason for the military to have these robots they called Gumps. In fact, much of the sci-fi aspects of this movie are extraneous and a waste of time. This does not have to be a sci-fi story. In fact, Anthony Mackie did not even need to be an android. All of the science fiction could be removed and the story could still work exactly as it is as a strictly action movie.

Unfortunately, this is a film that you won’t remember too long after you see it. I am sure that in December of this year, I will look at the title of the movie and wonder exactly what this was about.

2.2 stars

Regina King has been on a massive role recently with the projects that she has acted in, from If Beale Street Could Talk to HBO’s Watchmen. She has done a lot of television directing as well and this movie, One Night in Miami, was her feature film directorial debut.

One Night in Miami is a fictionalized story of one night in Miami when four black iconic superstars met together and discussed their lives and their place in history. The four icons were Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) [pre Muhammad Ali], Sam Cooke (Leslie Odam Jr), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) who were together in a hotel room on the night when Clay defeated Sonny Liston to become the champion of the world.

This was another movie that was based on a stage play, this time written by Kemp Powers. There have been several successful films recently that have been base don plays and this falls right into the line with those. Because One Night in Mimi takes place mostly within the room with the four men and it features some stellar dialogue and discussions between these characters.

And that was great.

There were limited amount of action, and, truly, the plot was not the focus of the film either, the performances were wonderful and the drama between the four of them kept the viewers glued to the screen. I know I was fascinated to hear where they took it from here. The main conflict seemed to stem from Malcom X’s desire to have Sam Cooke do more than just record fluff musical pieces and the wish that he would do more substantive work for the Civil Rights movement. While Clay and Brown got into disagreements as well, the interactions between Malcolm X and Cooke were the main event.

The direction was stunning as well. Regina King does a fantastic job with the shots, giving so much more depth to the hotel room than what you would expect a director could. With the limited settings, King is anything but restricted with her vision of the evening’s activities.

One Night in Miami is smart, compelling and feels very relevant in the ways of power and how one may yield it to benefit everyone. All four actors give tremendous performances, especially Leslie Odam Jr. and Kingsley Ben-Adir, who go at each other with a ferocity unexpected. This is an amazing debut for Regina King.

4 stars

Brandon Cronenberg, the son of David Cronenberg, brings this horror/thriller film from last year that I had not seen. I had heard a lot of positives about this movie, so I decided that it would be a good time to visit this film.

Andrea Riseborough played Tasya Vos, an assassin for a government agency, who is able to take over the body of a random person and use that person to be the killer. When she heads into a male man’s body (Christopher Abbott), there became problems with his life bleeding through into her life.

The film is extremely violent and bloody, with some distinct moments that jump out at the viewer.

Honestly, this was not my favorite film. I had heard so much positives about it that I found myself more disappointed by what was happening. I did not hate the film and there are some decent parts of the film, but I had a hard time getting into it.

There are some interesting concepts here and some themes that could be intriguing if you have some time to look at them. There are some sexual orientation ideas presented when Tasya entered the body of Colin. Some of the ideas of the character of Tasya was fascinating too, but I just did not love the blood, which felt overdone.

Perhaps if I took more time to look closer at the film, I would feel different about it. Still, Possessor was fine. Horror fans will probably love this. I thought it was passable.

Honestly, this was the first of two movies I watched in a row and I had a difficult time remembering exactly what the movie was about. That was not a good thing.

2.75 stars