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Film reviews

Red One Review

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The holiday cheer of adventure has action. Red One is full of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness. The director is Jake Kasdan. He delivers a unique Christmas flick. It is one of the many essential components of Christmas: Santa Claus, a naughty/nice list, elves, and the North Pole. It brings in much anticipation around its holiday spirit. Despite its efforts, it is an average Christmas ride.

Santa Claus (played by JK Simmons) is an important character. He is on a mission to do his duties for his duties on Christmas Eve. His assistant is Callum Drift (played by Dwayne Johnson). Their world of the North Pole is like a virtual world video game of Christmas grandeur. The tradition of Christmas hits a plateau. There has been a kidnapping of Santa. Callum tracks down a bounty hunter to help him get Santa back. That man is Jack O’Malley (played by Chris Evans). He is a deadbeat dad with many technological skills. With two butting knuckleheads (Johnson and Evans), they must learn to work together to get Santa back before time runs out.

Red One is interactive through the many fictionalized settings of Christmas. The film brings in wonders of the Christmas extravaganza. The film consists of reindeer games, sleigh riding, and lots of quirks. The performances of Johnson and Evans make Red One feel like a mediocre and lighter version of Die-Hard movie. That is because its setup feels like Die-Hard. Its addition is the many Christmas miracles sprinkled on the top. There are also Christmas creatures, magic tricks, and lots of imagination.

Red One is fun for the mindsets of a Christmas in peril expectation. The fact that Santa is missing delivers the expectation that presents may not be under the tree (for its younger audience). Its twist is the presents may come to life. The directing consists of moments of toy transformations to assist in the battles of saving Santa. The definition of context of a “lighter version of Die Hard.” An approach with the festive and pleasant jeopardy of Christmas continues down the rabbit hole of mediocrity.

Johnson and Evans are the main forces of redemption for a miracle. Simmons has a moment of that (later in the film). With Johnson and Evans being labeled as the heroes, it is like watching Johnson on a break from the world of wrestling. Evans is taking a break from playing Captain America. Instead, they are putting forth the effort to get Santa back so Christmas can go on.

I found my experience with Red One captivating because of its moments of suspense in motion. I saw this in 4DX. My seat vibrated vigorously. Water would spray into the audience. I felt I had the rollercoaster ride of Red One for a North Pole movie feeling. That added lots of excitement and vibrations throughout my mind. The film itself was still cheesy. Red One is swell if audiences go in without expecting to take Red One seriously. Red One is average to find its hero tracks for a saved Christmas—two out of four stars for Red One.

Film reviews

Blitz Review

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Director Steve McQueen knows how to bring in real-life events to make audiences feel the impact. He did so with Hunger (2008), Shame (2011), and 12 Years a Slave (2013). He has had other projects, but these previous films and his newest feature Blitz illustrate the challenge of battling reality no matter what the cost. Blitz is a historic tale where peril is a risk that must be dealt with to survive. London during World War II provides the setting in which a deep form of barely controllable tough love is at play. However, the story is more focused on those running for their lives than the historical aspects of the film itself. McQueen’s use of disconnect eventually finding a path to reconnection is done well in Blitz. McQueen also wrote the screenplay, and this time around, it feels like he used a different approach as a director when creating this drama.

The plot of the film takes place in the 1940s. There are a group of Londoners experiencing the dangers of the British Capital Bombing during the war. The main character is Rita (played by Saoirse Ronan), and she puts her son George (played by Elliott Heffernan) on a train as the times are tumultuous. George escapes the train and finds himself facing various hurdles. When Rita finds out George is missing, the search process for home and love does not come easy in Blitz.

The harsh times the characters are living in are filled with uncertainty which translates into a mind-boggling feeling for theaudience. Ronan is the concerned mother taking the necessary steps to try and find her son. Heffernan is the young boy scared for his life, but also hoping to find those who he can trust to help him navigate the uncharted territory he never imagined he would have to endure. George meets an African American soldier named Ife (played by Benjamin Clementine), and he helps George a lot. Jack (played by Harris Dickinson) is an English soldier who is of some assistance to Rita. The film also reveals the obstacles caused by racism and segregation during that era.  Some characters have a sense of entitlement that causes Blitz to have more unnerving moments amid the ever-present dangers. 

This is not a masterpiece, but it is solid film filled with emotions. Blitz lacks McQueen’s normal intensity and is a lot lighter than his previous projects. The subject matter is heavy, but primarily geared on finding peace with the loved ones and resolution to endure the perils that the story reveals. The period of World War II is important, but the story focuses more on the impact on innocent lives than zeroing in on warfare scenes. This is a drama where all may feel lost, but there is still a chance for restoration. In the end, it is about staying the course and never giving up. Two-and-a-half out of four stars for Blitz.

Film reviews

Juror #2 Review

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From director Clint Eastwood comes a courthouse film of detrimental misdirection. Juror #2 is one of the most authentic and stressful films of thought. It presents a layer of underlying issues that is being tossed around repeatedly. Eastwood knows characterizations and perspectives. Eastwood’s use of directing to get the full scope of a conflict lies out all kinds of emotions. If this is Eastwood’s last film, it is both monumental and tainted. “Tainted” by the fact that its release is so limited due to his disputes with Warner Bros. That is besides the point, but to elaborate, not everyone may get the chance to see it in the theatrical format (which is how it should be seen).

The film gears on Justin Kemp (played by Nicholas Hoult). Justin a normal man with a lot to live for, he has a happy relationship with his wife Allison Crewson (played by Zoey Deutch), and they are on their way to having their first child. Justin has jury duty and finds himself taking part in a trial of murder that carries a strong following. With serving on a jury with a retired police officer, Harold (played by JK Simmons), Marcus (played by Cedric Yarbrough), Denice (played by Leslie Bibb), and more, there is a lot of moving parts. The most stressful aspect is that Justin feels he is the one who caused the crime to happen. Despite the case of having a victim of a violent past, Justin’s memories come back to him. He is on the jury of a case he may have been the cause of. With two high-end attorneys Faith Killebrew (played by Toni Collette) and Eric Resnick (played by Christ Messina), justice is a puzzle that Justin keeps trying to spin around in circles. 

The case keeps linking back to the victim as one who did a killing, but he may have not. It may have been Justin, but no one knows this for sure, and neither does Justin. The mental stressors of Juror #2 present characterizations that keep the stressors mounted—keeping calm to find justice is not an easy task. The performance of Hoult shines of guilt while also trying to find a safe way for him to return to his life without feeling such admissions of guilt. There is no easy way for that to happen.

With Hoult and Collette in a performance by Eastwood, this is the second time they play two individuals not (always) seeing eye-to-eye. Collette played the mother of Hoult in About a Boyback in 2002. In that classic, they played a mother and son not finding common ground, twenty-two years later it is a juror and an attorney trying to find the pieces of where the deceit lies. Both of which play their roles so faithfully well. The court dynamics of facts, politics, seniority, and fairness keep tumbling over each other in the context of sacrifice. “Sacrifice” is a heavy aspect from Eastwood. With being just over nine decades old, the characterizations of truth still fight hard to find the correlations. The spellbinding notion of Juror #2 is the no excuses vibe of seriousness that flows from what started the whole case. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.