Review by Dan Skip Allen
Climate change is a real thing in this country and the world. The problem is convincing people that it actually exists and that they need to do something about it. What they need to do is the big question. The Ants and the Grasshopper is a documentary film by Raj Patel dealing with these problems and facing them head-on, focusing on those affected most by this worldwide crisis.
The film starts in Malawi, Africa, where Anita, Winston, and Esther all live and work — some farm, and others just sit around and watch. These people live a difficult life where everything is hard, because they don't have enough water to water their crops, which is one of the only forms of sustaining their lives and their children's lives. When the filmmaker suggests they go to America to talk about climate change, two of them jump at the opportunity to spread the word about their struggles and why American farmers affect them. Typical documentary fare this one has talking heads, but the way it uses the talking heads is different from other documentaries. It makes the main characters visit various farms in Wisconsin, Iowa, California, and Maryland to sit down to break bread with all the said farmers featured in the film. This showed these people's ways of living and their ideas about climate change, and how their ways of farming could affect other people.
An aspect the film doesn't go into as much is again a topic that isn't talked about enough: the Green New Deal, which Senator Jeff Betkley of Oregon co-sponsored. Everything else in the documentary leads up to this part of the film, but doesn't hammer home how important it truly is to get people behind this deal. What we eat and where it comes from isn't something we normally think of, but maybe we should. It's an important thing in our lives going forward.
An aspect I rather enjoyed about the documentary was the fish out of water part of it. These women came over to this country to try to spread their agenda about climate control, but what they sometimes find is strange ways of doing things that are hard to get their heads around. Like tractors, segregated neighborhoods, and how one farmer could use deviated rainwater to make his crops grow in different areas even when rain is scarce. This was surprising to these women who live such menial lives. The title of the film hit me hard once it was used in conjunction with the story being discussed in the documentary. Ants have a reputation for moving large amounts of weight, but it's because they work together. That's why a handful of ants were able to carry a grasshopper. If a few people were able to convince many people about how important climate change is, then more and more change can happen here and abroad. This was an important film in that regard. The Ants and the Grasshopper hits theaters on March 31. Rating: 3.5/5
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Review by Dan Skip Allen I am always interested in new indie films and movies that fly under the radar. You learn about the filmmaker and those involved in these types of movies from how well they make their films. In the case of Polaris, it has some amazing visuals filmed in a setting not that familiar to most audiences and depicting people who aren't focused on in films often — Indigenous people.
This film focuses on a young girl Sumi (Viva Lee), who is raised by a polar bear in the Arctic. When she gets captured by some tribal women (played by Muriel Dutil and Khamisa Wilsher), she uses the North Star to guide her and find her way back to her mother or guardian, if you will. The movie takes place in a dystopian world, so the story may be a bit odd to most viewers. The voyage of trying to get back to one's parent or loved one — in this case, a polar bear — is a universal trope that has been done before. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous by David Schulman. He captures the Arctic Circle brilliantly. The white of the snow-covered terrain jumps off the screen. The North Star in all its purple glory is shown brightly and stands out in a wasteland of white-covered hills and mountains. The camera work is impeccable and would stand up beside the best in the industry. The director Kristen Carshaw is trying to get two things across to viewers in this film. She wants to show a story about a strong young girl who can survive on her own in this vast Arctic wasteland, and she wants to show a story about nurturing youth from multiple points of view. It’s told by the polar bear and the little 10-year-old girl who finds a little friend to take care of on her journey to return home. Using this type of story was fascinating to some extent. It's not the typical way a writer or director would show these plot points, but it worked in this particular film. Polaris isn't going to blow people's minds, but if you want to watch something different and thought-provoking about nurturing with a twist, this might be the little indie movie for you. I was drawn to this little girl and her journey to get back home. The cinematography was breathtaking, to say the least. It's worth the price of admission. Polaris screened at the 2023 Make Believe Film Festival, which runs March 23-26 in Seattle, WA. Rating: 3/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen The horror genre has had a resurgence in the last ten or so years. The genre was starting to get boring and repetitive in the 2000s. The years of classic horror movie characters like Jason, Michael Myers, and Freddy were in the past. That has all changed now. There are new and innovative voices that have rejuvenated this genre. Most new horror films are serious material, but sometimes these creators love the genre so much that they make films that are an homage to it. That's the case with The Third Saturday in October films. They are a love letter to the horror genre. The gist of the story is that in 1968, a killer named Jackeriah Harding — Jack for short — went on a killing spree, killing a bunch of people in a small Alabama town called Hackleburg. He ends up being electrocuted for his crimes, but doesn't end up dying. Instead, he starts killing again on the third Saturday in October, which by coincidence, is the date that a popular football game between Alabama Mobile and Tennessee A & M is played every year. This is a huge college football rivalry, similar to Alabama vs Auburn in the Iron Bowl. These two films are basically one long film in the way that the Kill Bill films are. Viewers start with The Third Saturday in October Part V, before going back and watching the “first” film — which was created as a prequel. That's a wink at the horror genre once again, because there are so many sequels in horror films. The first film takes a bunch of tropes from classic horror films. All the various nods are in there for people to see — there’s no need to rattle them all off. The writer/director Jay Burleson is obviously a huge horror fan and football fan. He mashed these two things with huge followings together. While all the killings are taking place in two main locations in each film — typically a house — the football game is on the TV in the background. It's actually pretty impressive what the team behind these movies does. Setting these films in Alabama gives them an interesting place that is distinctive to these specific movies, but again makes fun of small towns where horror films are set. The cast of these two films is very good. They all have their various roles to play, such as in the prequel, two people witness the execution and revival of the villain, and they have to drive from one town to another, letting everybody know what happened. This is straight out of the Halloween franchise. In Part V, a bunch of teens meet at one of the houses belonging to one and proceed to get killed one by one. This is another classic horror movie trope, location, and plot device.
As a huge sports fan, I was glad to see all the little touches involved with the football rivalry woven into the storyline from both movies. The stuff involving the coach and the fan bases was pretty funny. Even naming the main team the Seahawks is a take-off of Auburn's mascot, the War Eagle. This is completely fresh for this genre, and it was a nice touch to throw in the football stuff. The thing I liked most about these films was how they tied together while also being separate entities all by themselves. They were not too long, so they moved pretty quickly, and they didn't drag too much either. The quick running time made them more enjoyable. I found myself looking for things that tied them together in ways besides the obvious ways, like an actor playing multiple parts in each film. This was an enjoyable experience. The Third Saturday in October Part V and its prequel, The Third Saturday in October, blended together two of my favorite things: movies and sports. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, like some of my film critic friends are, but I love a well-done horror film with an original idea by a filmmaker who wants to be noticed and change up the genre. And I love sports films. These films take this idea and do a fantastic job of mixing together two great things. Burleson is a filmmaker to watch in the future. He knows how to make an entertaining film. He did it twice with these two mocking this great genre and football. Hopefully, people will find and watch these enjoyable films. They have to be seen together. The Third Saturday in October Part V and The Third Saturday in October screened at the 2023 Make Believe Film Festival, which runs March 23-26 in Seattle, WA. Rating: 3.5/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have been good friends for many years, ever since they did 9 to 5 in 1980. Recently, they reteamed together in 80 for Brady as two of four women whose dream is to go to the Super Bowl, starring alongside Sally Field and Rita Moreno. Now they pair up again in Moving On. The film starts at the funeral of a woman. Two women who attend the funeral are Claire and Evelyne (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin). They were friends of the deceased. They both blame her husband Howard (Malcolm McDowell) for the death. Even though they aren't close anymore, they team up to try to get rid of the deceased woman's husband for what they believe he did to her. These two legends of the big and small screen are fantastic together in whatever film they do. They just know the ins and outs of each other's personalities regarding their acting ability. This comes easy for them. The comedy flows because they are enjoying working together at this point in their lives. Even though there are some heavy themes in Moving On, they make them seem light and not as serious. It's their charm together that does that. Despite the main plot of the two women seeking revenge for their friend's death, there are a few subplots. Fonda has a fling with another older gentleman who attends the funeral played by Shaft himself, Richard Roundtree. Together, these two realize how much life they have left, and that they have to make the most of it. Also, Tomlin's character has this resentment, and she needs to figure out how to deal with it in her life.
Reuniting with her friends helps her.Films regarding death can be a mixed bag, but Moving On handles these topics nicely. The film doesn't dwell too much on death, even though a funeral is at the center of it, and the women are looking to kill the husband. It's more focused on how they can make the most of the time they have left. At an hour and twenty-five minutes, it goes by quickly and doesn't drag too much. Moving On is a film that deals with some difficult subject matter by mostly making light of it. The relationships past and present are the focal point, and the collaboration between Fonda and Tomlin is the best part of the movie. They seem so good together in recent and past films they've done together. The brisk pace makes this a movie worth seeing. You don't have to dwell on it for too long. Moving On hits theaters on March 17. Rating: 3/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen The Boston Strangler has a film and literary history. In 1968, the Boston Strangler film was released starring Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis, and George Kennedy, and directed by Richard Fleischer. It was based on a book of the same name by Gerold Frank. Later another book by Sebastian Unger was written about this famous serial killer. Matt Ruskin wrote and directed a new film about this famous grouping of murders in the Boston, Massachusetts area, which is being released on Hulu in conjunction with 20th Century Studios. Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) is a mother and happily married wife, and a reporter for the Record American on the lifestyle desk in the 1960s in Boston, Massachusetts. She wants more than just reporting on the latest household appliance, though. When she inadvertently comes across an article in the paper about a woman being raped and murdered, she brings it to her editor Jack McClaine (Chris Cooper). He turns her down with one caveat. She can investigate on her own time. When she finally ends up trying the murders together, she brings it back to him. He reluctantly allows her to write it up, and eventually assigns her a seasoned partner, Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), to explore this series of murders even further. This series of murders baffled the Boston police and their detectives for years. The Police Commissioner (Bill Camp) denies these murders are tied together, but he still has detectives like Jim Conley (Alessandro Nivola) turning over every stock and exploring every possible suspect, even though the police are overwhelmed by the number of calls they get about this series of heinous acts. The movie uses a framing device to show another policeman in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Detective Deline (Rory Cochran). The film balances the investigative work of the reporters and police involved in the story nicely. Both were a huge part of trying to bring the guilty party to justice equally. The film is set in the years between 1963-1965, so the production design must show that period in American history. This movie was shot in the Boston area and takes place in the towns surrounding Boston: Back Bay, Cambridge, Lynn, Laurence, and Mauldin, Massachusetts. The buildings are red brick, and the apartments are of the period. There are plenty of old sedans and police cars that fit in this world. The clothes and hairstyles are all equally right on par with the rest of the production of this fantastic film. There have been many films that deal with investigative aspects of movies, whether it be reporters in films like All the President's Men and Spotlight or police detectives in films like Se7en or In the Heat of the Night. This kind of story beat can sometimes go wrong or not as good as viewers or critics like me agree with. That is not the case with Boston Strangler, though. This film shows how investigative reporting should be done in movies. There were so many small scenes of people making phone calls or looking through items for information, and all these added up to why this story worked so well. Matt Ruskin, the writer/director of the film, understands what goes into this kind of intellectual storyline.
This movie has an amazing cast of actors in the leading roles of reporters and police detectives, but the supporting cast includes David Dastmalchian as Albert Desalva, Morgan Spector as McLaughlin's husband, Robert John Burke as the publisher of the newspaper, and many others in this period piece film. Every character brings their own believability to each role they play, which in turn makes the story much better. Ruskin assembled an amazing cast, and I am glad to see all these amazing actors and actresses in these big or small roles in this terrific investigative period piece. At the heart of this movie is a series of gruesome murders, where the victims are strangled brutally with their stockings or another piece of clothing. Those aspects have to bring an element of reality to the film and bring that realistic flavor to the forefront. This was not a pretty movie. It has its ugly moments to get the audience watching at home on Hulu to believe that men are capable of these heinous acts. This story won't be the first story about such acts, but add everything together, and you have a film that crosses boundaries and brings viewers into a world of tough times for everyone involved. These men have power that at the time was so big, and to see women in positions that can thwart that power considering the acts that transport in it is so good to see. All these men have a thing that tries to overpower women, but it shows that women have their own sort of power that shows in future films and television shows. Boston Strangler has a lot of little details that I can't mention, because it would be a spoiler for the movie. All these little details add up to make such a fantastic investigative story that shows women do have power despite also being victims. The cast, including Knightley, Coon, Nivola, and the rest of the character actors, are all stellar in their roles. The writing and direction from Matt Ruskin show a new talent that must be recognized in this business. This film meant a lot to me because of where it was set in my hometown of Boston, but it still had to be good for me to give it a good review. That is because 20th Century Studies put together such a terrific assembly of actors in front of the camera and production people behind the camera. This is an amazing film, no matter how you look at it. Boston Strangler streams on Hulu beginning March 17. Rating: 4.5/5
Review by Dan Skip Allen
Shadow and Bone is based on the books Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows, a young adult fantasy adventure by Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo. The first season premiered on Netflix in 2021 with good reviews and a lot of fan fervor. This March, the second season premieres. It picks up where the last season ended, so fans won't have a hard time following along.
The second season doesn't spread out the characters as much as the first, but they are separated into two distinct groups most of the season. One group features Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Malyen (Archie Renaux), who meet Nikolia Lansov (Patrick Gibson), the future king. He helps them gather an army to fight against General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) and his dark creatures from The Fold. Another group is led by Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), with crew Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), Inej Ghafa (Amita Surnan), and Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan). Together, they help him finish some unfinished business with Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly), before they get commissioned to retrieve a sword that may help destroy General Kirigan and his dark army of creatures from The Fold. Eventually, the two groups find each other and battle with the dark forces.
The thing about fantasy television series or films based on popular book series is that they have to keep the feel and tone of the books. Not having read the books, I don't know if that'd be the case, but from what I'm watching, the series seems authentic to this world that it creates. There are visual effects that play into that mix. The fighting scenes are pretty cool, and the aesthetic of the show seems pretty on point with similar fantasy shows of its kind.
With this show having such a sprawling cast, it's hard to focus on any one character for too long. Each of the characters has their own arc and motivation. As a viewer of the show, it forces you to take sides and root for one group over the other. That's the nature of these types of series or films. If the characters weren't so interesting, the show wouldn't work as much as it does. Season 2 of Shadow and Bone delves deeper into the world created by Leigh Bardugo. Eric Heisserer did as well as one could adapting these novels into a series. They reach far and wide. They have a universal appeal to fans and newcomers who are watching for the first time. There is heart and love, as well as pain and anguish within each episode of season 2. The main characters all have room to shine, while supporting characters have surprising arcs of their own. With so many characters in the show, that's a hard thing to do. Shadow and Bone is now streaming on Netflix. All eight episodes reviewed. Rating: 3.5/5 CHANG CAN DUNK -- An Inspiring Film About Making Mistakes, Not Giving Up, and Overcoming the Odds3/10/2023 Review by Dan Skip Allen I'm a big fan of sports films. That being said, the Disney formula of sports films can be a little repetitive. They seem too alike to me. Chang Can Dunk is a little different than the other myriad of Disney feel good sports films. And as a basketball film, it's better than the last one they put out. It has heart, as well as some good messages, making it worthwhile to see.
Chang (Bloom Li) is the son of a single mother. He makes a bet with Matt (Chase Liefeld), the school bully and basketball player, for a framed Kobe Bryant autographed jersey and his Charizard Pokemon card. He likes the new girl in school, Kristy (Zoey Renea). He has a best friend Bo (Ben Wang), with whom he hangs out. Together, they see Deandre (Dexter Darden) on YouTube doing basketball tricks and dunks. They ask him to teach him how to dunk, in exchange for his best friend, who helps him make his YouTube videos better. The film has a few things that differentiate it from other sports movies. One of them is that it uses animation to show the passage of time. Another fun aspect of the movie is the soundtrack. The film uses the Jimmy Eat World song "The Middle" and other popular songs for entertainment value. A montage is also used for great enjoyment to see how the main character gets from point A to point Z in his training. As the main character is Chinese, he sometimes speaks his family's native tongue to his mother, so the film uses subtitles. An aspect that I could relate to — as I'm sure a lot of people can — is the fact that the main character's mother Chen (Mardy Ma) is hard on him. Like many Asian families, they want their children to grow up to be doctors and business owners of some kind. Of course, when you are young, you aren't thinking about your future much. You're thinking of having fun while you can and meeting or impressing girls. That is what this kid is trying to do. Whether it works or not remains to be seen. As this is a Disney+ Original Film, it's pretty mild in its approach. The writer/director Jingyi Shao doesn't go to the levels of bullying or peer pressure he could go to with a movie like this, but because it's on this streaming service, kids and parents watching at home will get the message. As a whole, the teens are well-represented and well-acted. Not having seen these actors before, I was interested in their various arcs and where they all ended up as characters. This is a bad straight-to-Disney+ film at all. With everything going on in the movie, the main event almost gets overlooked. A band shows up playing "Seven Nation Army" from the White Stripes. in support of Chang building him up for his attempt at the dunk. There is a happy ending, the ESPN show Get Up reaches out for an interview, but the second dunk fails on the show. So this is where the real lesson of the film comes in. Being popular goes to his head, and he lets his friends down. The fight with Matt over the dunk was real or not, and whether Chang cheated by lowering the hoop. Chang Can Dunk uses a Rocky theme montage, but is far from that incredible film. It's not a bad film by any means, but it lacks the gravitas that makes it a great film. The Disney+ avenue is specifically for families, and that takes away from where this movie could have gone regarding the levels of peer pressure and bullying. That being said, I still liked it and the characters within it. Especially the Krusty and Bo characters. They brought a fresh feeling to an otherwise paint-by-number inspiring sports story. Chang Can Dunk is now streaming on Disney+. Rating: 3/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen I am a big fan of films about or featuring authors. Adaptation, Barton Fink, Wonder Boys, and Misery are among my favorites. This small genre of film usually brings me a smile at the end of whatever film I'm watching thanks to their often whimsical nature. I didn't have any expectations, but A Little White Lie is another such film that brought me some delight. A lonely man, CR Shriver (Michael Shannon), who drinks his sorrows away with his buddy Lenny (Mark Boone Junior) at their local watering hole in New York City, gets a letter in the mail asking him to appear at a Literary Festival at Acheron University. He is mistaken for a popular author who's been in hiding for twenty years. The 92nd Annual Acheron Literary Festival hopes to feature him and his book Goat Time. He's not the real Shiver, or is he? He ends up going to the festival and tries to pass as this one-hit wonder of an author. The writer/director, Michael Maren, has assembled a good cast of character actors for this wild zany indie comedy. Simone Clery (Kate Hudson) is a professor and author in her own right. She welcomes Shriver in and befriends him. Don Johnson plays another professor who has a past with Hudson's character. He also believes in Shannon's character. Da'Vine Joy Randolph plays a fan of his he meets on an airplane, and he confides in her, and they also become friends. And Jimmi Simpson is a detective who tries to get to the bottom of a disappearance but helps solve another mystery instead. Everybody is very funny in their roles, and these people I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. This film has a good premise. The story about a mistaken author is a pretty funny one for a movie. Shannon and the others go all the way to show viewers that he is who they believe him to be. Mystery abounds about whether this is true or not, and even an imposter comes out of the woodwork saying he's not who they all believe him to be. He himself doesn't believe he wrote his own book, so it's hard for anybody to believe in what's going on. That is what the charm of this little film truly is.
A Little White Lie is a fun movie with an interesting premise of mistaken identity or stealing someone's identity — depending on how one chooses to look at it. Shannon is very believable as this man who doesn't know if he is who these people think he is or not. He goes with it, though, and in doing so finds himself. He makes some new friends from the rest of the cast I mentioned and starts to believe in himself. The writer/director Merin balances a fine line between what is real and not, and how the viewers take his story is up to them. A Little White Lie hits theaters and VOD on March 3. Rating: 3/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen Perry Mason was a law procedural that ran from 1957-1966, starring Raymond Burr. He reprised the role many times after that over the years. In 2020, Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, together with HBO, launched its version of Perry Mason, starring Matthew Rhys of The Americans fame. Coming in March, the second season of the acclaimed series kicks off with some great anticipation. When season two of Perry Mason kicks off, Perry (Matthew Rhys) has found himself doing general law. He and his associate, Della Street (Juliet Rylance), find themselves defending a grocery store owner against an ex-employee who supposedly stole company designs and secrets. He's not happy doing this, but it pays the bills. When a well-respected member of the community Brooks McCutchen (Tommy Dewey) turns up dead, two Mexicans are fingered for the murder. Their family members enlist the services of Perry and Della for help. They, in turn, ask a friend, Paul Drake (Chris Chalk), to help with this difficult investigation. Because of the era Perry Mason is set in, it has a vibe of film noir — a genre that has been popping up more and more lately. A new Philip Marlowe film starring Liam Neeson is out in theaters currently. Films like Chinatown, The Big Sleep, and The Maltese Falcon paved the way for shows like this. Season one was very good and had an interesting storyline. Season two is more in line with those classics I just mentioned, though, and that is more to my liking than the previous season. Matthew Rhys has proven he is a fantastic actor with his long run on FX's The Americans. His turn as Perry Mason is a bit different from that other starring role. He has a more unsure nature of himself about this character. This is before his more confident years in his previous series. He's still learning the law, and he has to rely more on his friends and associates and the instincts he used as a private investigator in previous years. Rhys changes direction as Mason, and it is fun to watch him in action. Sometimes, I'm a big fan of courtroom dramas or comedies. They just bring out dramatic things in films that make them better most of the time. This show is not like a television procedural, it has more of a cinematic feeling. Add in the film noir elements, and there is nothing like this series on television today. HBO and the showrunners, directors, and writers have created a show that takes risks and goes places unexpected for this type of series. Many story beats don't meet expectations — they exceed them. This series has a good cast of characters. A few return from the previous season, but also some new ones. Shea Whigham once again plays both sides as a private investigator Pete Strickland for the district attorney, but he is also trying to keep his relationship with Mason. That is a hard thing to do in this climate. Oscar nominee for best supporting actor for Sound of Metal, Paul Raci, is the father of the deceased, Lydell McCutchen, but he has a mechanization of his own that may put him in the crosshairs of Mason and his team. Hope Davis, as Camilla Nygard, is a confidant and friend of Street, who relies on her wisdom about the town of Los Angeles and the men that run it. And Eric Lange returns as Detective Holcolm, who has a history with the deceased. This show has a stellar cast that makes it better with every episode.
As I mentioned, the film noir elements of this series are some of the best things about it. They add mystery and suspense where needed. With the investigative side of the show, the legal drama is set in 1930s Los Angeles, based on novels and short stories penned by Erle Stanley Gardner. They mix well with the film noir elements. These are the two main parts of how and why these types of shows and films work. There is a style and formula of film noir that fits perfectly into Perry Mason. I loved what they did with this show. Perry Mason mixes some great elements of film noir investigative work and a courtroom drama, and seamlessly creates a fantastic season 2 of this acclaimed series. The cast is filled with terrific character actors doing some of the best work of their careers. The star that never ceases to amaze with his range as an actor, Rhys, gives viewers watching this series a believability factor that he has embodied this lawyer who may be in over his head time and again, but never compromises his beliefs and fights for his clients. This is a character and actor viewers can and should get behind. This show also adds some other elements in subplots that are eye-opening for me and fans watching at home on their television screen. I want to see this series continue, and I hope the creators continue to break ground with the directors and people involved behind the scenes. These different visions aren't compromised by anything going on in the world. Perry Mason debuts on HBO on March 6 at 9pm ET/PT, with new episodes airing subsequent Mondays. All eight episodes reviewed. Rating: 4.5/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen The Rocky franchise is considered one of the most successful franchises in film history, with five sequels to the original film, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The inevitable spinoff series was created to capitalize on the popularity, and most importantly, to make money for MGM. Stallone was fazed back into the story, with Ryan Coogler coming off of his breakout hit Fruitvale Station. He cast his young star Michael B. Jordan in the lead role as the estranged son of deceased legend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). With Sallone's Rocky as his mentor, and this franchise was off and running. Fast forward eight years later, and Creed III is coming out in theaters, once again starring Jordan as Creed, but this time he's also making his directorial debut. Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) is again fighting the same fighter from the last film, but when he eventually wins another championship fight, he does the sensible thing and retires as the champ. He wants to spend more time with his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and daughter Alana (Mila Davis Kent). Out of the blue, an old childhood friend — Damien "Dame" Anderson (Jonathan Majors) — returns, bringing back memories of a past that he would just rather forget. The problem is Anderson isn't in the forgetting mood because he spent eighteen years in prison and his future is now. This causes a rift between these two childhood friends. The Creed franchise has taken on a life of its own, and with Coogler writing and Jordan directing and starring in the latest installment, there wasn't much room for Stallone anymore. That's not a problem, though. These two have taken what they learned from the previous installments and made another stellar film that pulls on the heartstrings, as films in these franchises tend to do. This movie has a lot of emotional heft that these films are famous for. They are also famous for having contrivances that cause the most dramatic moments in many films in both franchises. This one is no different, with a major contrivance that changes the trajectory of where the story started and where it ended. It's not bad, it's just normal for these films. Fans of the franchise should expect this though. Jonathan Majors has had three films come out in the last four months, with Creed III being his fourth in five months. If audiences haven't discovered him by now from Devotion, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania, and his indie Sundance film Magazine Dreams, they are missing out. This character might be the most nuanced of the bunch. He uses the anger of being in jail to fuel his rage, and creates an inner-city accent to go along with it. His character is from the Crenshaw section of Los Angeles and has a chip on his shoulder. He feels left behind and forgotten, while Jordan's Creed went on to success. That would fuel anyone's return. Majors once again kills it in this role. He seemed to be born to play this character. With Jordan in the director's chair, there were bound to be some hiccups. He learned the craft from working with Denzel Washington, Destin Daniel Cretton, and of course his previous director of three films, Ryan Coogler. He chose to do a few things that were out of the ordinary with this movie. One of which I think was a lucky mistake, and that was turning the climactic fight into some kind of existential journey of self-discovery for the main character. A timelapse sequence was inserted, maybe by mistake, due to the COVID-19 outbreak creeping its ugly head into the production of the film. This actually worked well for the climax of the film. It showed the binds and mindset of where these two main characters were coming from. A series of flashbacks was another decision that was used to good effect to set up this rivalry. It gave the viewers backstory on these two, once childhood friends, now bitter enemies. If the main story taking up the bulk of the film by Coogler and Jordan wasn't enough, they also throw in a few subplots that put the dramatic tension to an all-time high. One of them worked, while the other did the mistakable job of putting the cart before the horse. Many franchises (the Fast & Furious franchise comes to mind) do this, and it's not necessarily wrong to set up sequels or spin-offs, but nobody knows how this movie will do. Setting up more films before this one is released is a mistake. These characters have been proven to be very popular, so I understand trying to capitalize on that popularity. The profitability will surely be there. MGM has to learn from past mistakes of other film companies like Universal, whose Dark Universe we all know the fate of.
One of the things I've always loved about the Rocky and Creed franchises is the emotional weight these films have. As a viewer, they bring out moments that can get a tear or two flowing from the eyes. This movie does that. Whether it's the rivalry of these two once-childhood friends or the relationship between husband and wife, these stories never cease to pull at the heartstrings. We can't help but be emotionally tied to what we're seeing on screen. Many people can relate to the struggle of Majors's character in some way, but they have also gone through similar tragedies and emotional trauma Creed is going through. It's just how life is sometimes. Whether it's Sylvester Stallone or Michael B. Jordan, both actors seem to have been made for these characters. And audiences keep coming back for more and more. With everything else going on in this movie, the thing that almost gets lost in the shuffle is the technical aspect. Jordan filmed this third installment in the Creed franchise with IMAX cameras. He wanted to get the people watching to be invested in the fight scenes. That being said, I wasn't able to see the film in the proper aspect ratio to get the full effect of that. What I saw though was very impressive, and I can only imagine how much better this would have come off had I had the opportunity to see it in an IMAX theater. Creed III is a joyous, thrilling film that pulls on the heartstrings while also being dramatic. Coogler and company balance the story and layer it well. It gives everybody involved many moments to shine. That being said, Majors is again the standout in another big franchise tentpole film. He brings an emotional heft that this movie needed to get the audience behind the title character. His acting lately has been off the chain, and he seems to have no ceiling regarding his acting ability. This movie will be a huge success, and my minor quibbles with a few things won't matter to the layman, who will flock to see this third installment of a franchise that seemingly will never go away. I hope they keep making films like this one, and I'll keep coming back time after time. This is an achievement in popcorn filmmaking by Jordan, Coogler, Majors, and the entire cast and production involved. Creed III hits theaters on March 3. Rating: 4/5 |
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