Smallfoot

The best:  Surprisingly deep message

The worst:  Some of the visual gaffes are fairly ridiculous

Comments:  What if we made Hotel Transylvania....but we traded the monsters....for YETIS!?

10 minutes into the movie I was convinced that I was going to write a review of this movie basically saying it was Hotel Transylvania Redux.  Which would not be the worst thing, as I rather enjoyed that movie.  But pretty soon the movie stopped skating along and dove into a solidly enjoyable tale with some enjoyable themes for all ages.

Yetis live on a mountain, and think people are mythical.  Then one of them meets a human, and eventually the two sides meet each other.  And within that basic framework for a kid's tale, Smallfoot gives us a story that touches on searching for truth while lightly poking at blind obedience to tenants, but keeps it light and fun.  The characters are fresh and bright with enjoyable interplay and dialogue that keeps the plot hopping along.  During the film I heard laughter from both younger children and adults.

The art was pleasant.  Shades of white are dominant when around yetis and humans come across with neon and darker colors.  Each bigfoot has a very individual look, from body type to hair, that makes it easy for each to stand out and be noticed.  The yeti and human villages contain a surprising amount of little details that make them feel alive and interactive.  The CGI is what you would expect from a modern animated file - clean and clear.

A real highlight is the voice work throughout the cast.  Channing Tatum and James Corden are great in the lead roles, each providing very good personality to their characters.  Common deserves a special mention, adding some real depth to the story as the stoic Stonekeeper.  And the songs were entertaining, if not particularly great.  The music fit into the overall story, but lacked some of the magic we've seen recently in Moana, Coco, or even Trolls.  The exception would be Common's Let it Lie, which was the song that stuck in my head as I walked out of the theater.

Kids will love this movie, and I think most adults will at least enjoy the experience.  It's cute and fun, which is usually good enough for me.

Rating:  7.5/10 - Enjoyable and memorable

The House with a Clock in the Walls

The best: The promise of the story

The worst:  The failure to realize that promise

Comments:  The other day one of my sisters posted on Facebook that she "WANTS to like movies".  And I realized I'm the same way - I go to movies to be entertained and to be caught up into a compelling story.  I will forgive many errors if a show can achieve that.

And this movie completely failed to do so.

The House with a Clock in the Walls is a movie about an orphaned boy (10?  11?) who goes to live with his uncle he's never met during the 1950s.  He quickly discovers that his uncle and the neighbor lady can perform magic, and asks to learn as well.  During all of this he goes through the normal "young boy/new school" troubles you'd expect - a hard time making friends and a harder time fitting in.  Overshadowing it all is the clock in the walls, which is ticking down to something ominous.  Lessons are learned and obstacles are overcome as the young man settles into his new life and family.

But for a movie about magic it somehow forgot to inject any into the movie.  Everything felt flat and procedural, which is not at all what I want to see in a movie like this.  Interest parts were completely rushed through and skipped over - warlock training, the history of his uncle and the neighbor, getting to know the house, and even the majority of his school experience.  Any of those would have added much-needed life into the tale.  Instead those were sacrificed for pointless subplots and a rush into a main bad guy that added almost nothing to the movie.

We are presented with side characters that should have expanded the magic of the world - a griffin topiary that poops dead leaves in all the wrong places, a sofa that barks and acts like a dog, and a stained-glass window that changes and moves to interact with the humans.  But none of those are ever expounded upon, instead they are played in the background and end up just being noise that distracts from the plot without adding anything.  Magic is shown and could be - no should be - interesting, but instead it is rushed over without any development.

Younger audiences may enjoy the film for the very reason I disliked it - disjointed storytelling and empty promise may not be something noticed by a 7 year old.  But there is almost nothing in this movie for adults or even older teens.

I wanted to like this movie.  I just couldn't.

Rating:  3/10 - 3 points because kids could watch it, and it's not offensive

Searching

The best:  Good use of a storytelling gimmick

The worst:  The limits of the gimmick

Comments:
Searching is the story of a daughter who goes missing and her father who goes....Searching.

But it's how it tells the story that makes this something worth watching.  The plot unfolds through the technology that is watching us - we see facetime calls, a webcam on a computer, security footage, YouTube videos, and even news stories.  Everything is told through those mediums, and it sucks you into the story.

After his daughter goes missing, the search for her takes place on two fronts.  Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing - always nice to see her) handles the police work while her father, David Kim (John Cho) digs into her online life and learns how little he knew what she was up to.  The plot takes a few twist and turns, including a rather shocking one, before coming to a great closing.

This movie tries to do a lot and succeeds for the most part.  I really loved how the method of storytelling was able to make it feel like I was watching something happen - it pulled me in and gave the plot a level of urgency I did not expect.  Excellent acting by the leads certainly helped.  John Cho really shined, conveying an evolving mental state as more and more time passed by from the last time anybody had seen his daughter.  I'm used to seeing him in supporting roles, but in this movie he shows the skills to carry a story.

This isn't a perfect movie by any means, but it is a different and fresh approach to storytelling that I appreciated.

Rating: 7/10 - Extra points for being original and ambitious

Alpha

The best:  Cinematography

The worst:  I dunno - historical accuracy?

Comments:  Let me start off by saying straight out - this movie was wonderful.  It was beautifully filmed and staged, and the plot is heartwarming and wholesome.

Keda is the son of the tribal chieftain on his first seasonal hunt.  Things don't go as planned; he is lost to the hunting party and left for dead.  And he meets an injured wolf and bonds with it.  Then they head home.  And things happen.

While that description is more or less correct, it fails to capture the heart that make this movie great.  It is touching and suspenseful and takes you on an emotional journey that is worth every penny and every moment of your time.

The acting is very good, the scenery is filmed with deft skill, the makeup and scenes are effective, and the music draws you in.  I don't know what else to ask for in a movie.  The movie is subtitled (the spoken language is a fictional proto-language), so be aware of that going in for younger children without reading proficiency.  There are scenes of intense peril and at least a couple of off-screen deaths.  That's the best I can do for negatives.

This movie is simple and wonderful.  When I saw it last week, the theater was about half full, and when the movie ended I watched to see how the audience took it.  Some people had visible tears, and some were smiling.  The rest were doing both.  Expect to do the same when you see this movie.

Rating:  9/10 - It's just good.

Mile 22

The best:  Action, especially the non-gun fighting

The worst:  The lack of details

Comments:  If you want a fast-paced action movie that doesn't bog you down with personal details or character development, do I have the movie for you!

It would be fair to say that Mile 22 is a run of the mill action movie stripped of the minutiae.  There are small forays into backstory and motive for the characters, but as limited as those are it may have been better to just not try.  One character is going through a divorce, one character had trouble relating to people and then his parents died, one character....actually....that may have been all the backstory.

The story is nothing new or exciting (get this person to safety 22 miles away through hostile territory), but it tries hard.  The lack of character storylines leaves far too much time for the action - while the scenes are great it feels like too much of a good thing and it grows a bit stale.  The big saving grace for the fighting is the presence of Iko Uwais as Li Noor.  If you are not familiar with Iko Uwais - he is an Indonesian actor with some serious action movie chops - he stars in what may be the best martial arts movies of all time (The Raid).  He got a credit in this movie as co-fight coordinator, and it shows in the quality of the fighting scenes.  He brings enough to the table to make these extended action sequences palatable.

Overall, Mile 22 feels almost like a bare-boned movie.  This is a mixed blessing, but not always a bad thing.  By stripping away most character development it makes this a hollow movie that makes it hard to care if one person dies or if another lives - they are empty shells without much emotional attachment.  But the action is good and enjoyable for the most part, and if all you want is 100 minutes of shooting and punching, you will not feel that you have wasted your time watching this movie.

Rating:  4/10 - but it could be enjoyable if you want a mindless fighting movie.

Crazy Rich Asians - the review

The best:  The whole thing?

The worst:  Cheating sub-plot.

Comments:  Crazy Rich Asians is a movie about somebody meeting their boyfriend's mother.  And about elite high society in Singapore.  And about fitting in.  And about love.  And so much more.

Rachel Chu is happily dating her boyfriend Nick Young in New York City.  She agrees to go to Singapore for the wedding of Nick's best friend and to also meet his family, of which she knows almost nothing.  In an absolutely delightful scene, the news that Nick is bringing Rachel spreads throughout the Singapore elite at lightning speed.

And from there things get crazy.

I do not want to break down what happens in this movie, because there is no chance I do it justice.  It is full of twists and turns.  Singapore is featured and it is simply amazing to look at.  The people are an insane mix, much like in any family but with lots more money.  Nick's mother does not approve of Rachel - which a story that happens for the rich and poor, and is the factor that drives the movie through it's latter half.

Constance Wu as Rachel Chu was fantastic.  She played the out of place American fantastically.  Relative newcomer Henry Golding stole the show for me as Nick Young.  I loved every single scene that had him in it.  Gemma Chan plays Astrid, a cousin of Nicks.  Her role fleshed out the movie by adding some seriousness and sanity.  And Michelle Yeoh is a welcome sight as Nick's mother Eleanor, who carries the burden of driving the conflict without coming across as an "evil mother" stereotype, which she does perfectly.

Oh, and if nothing else see this movie for Awkwafina as Goh Peik Lin.  She's hilarious and unexpected.

Every so often a movie just comes together.  Each piece sits in the perfect place, the narrative harmonizes to make a rich, deep story.  The characters interplay in a way that feels real, and the situations are crazy but somehow believable.  Scenes are creative and imaginative (like I mentioned above with the gossip spreading), and sets are beautifully put together.  Camerawork is exceptional.  Emotions are palpable and echo with the viewer, laughter is heard in the theater and many tears are visible when the lights come on.

This is one of those movies.  I loved everything about it.  It is a breath of fresh air into the stale rom-com landscape, one that I hope is learned from and repeated in future movies of that genre.  I adore this movie. 

Rating:  10/10 - I honestly would not change a single thing.

Christopher Robin - the review

Christopher Robin

The best:  Nostalgia

The worst:  The work "solution".  Ouch.

Comments:  Christopher Robin plays a familiar formula - take something that will hearken back to the childhood of adults with disposable cash, repackage it with a new yet friendly look, run commercials and trailers that focus heavily on the nostalgia, then sit back and rake in the cash (Currently at $91.7m domestically and $142.9m worldwide).  Disney's Christopher Robin sticks to this path doggedly without variance.

And I loved it.

Like many people my age, I grew up with Winnie the Pooh.  And then when my kids were born Winnie the Pooh saw a resurgence with new cartoons on the Disney Channel, so it was a familiar sight on my TV for many years.  It was cute, it was wholesome, it was touching, and it was always good for a smile.  The characters all represented a piece of the viewer - Pooh showing our childlike innocence, Piglet as our anxiety, Tigger as our exuberance, Owl bringing what little wisdom we had, Eeyore was our down days, Kanga covered those pieces we all carry of our mothers, and Roo was the simple child inside.  But one day we all grew up, then our children did as well.

And that's where this movie steps in.  Christopher Robin had to go to boarding school.  He had to step in as the "man of the house" when his father passed away.  And then (in the only scene that may be less-friendly for very young viewers) he had to fight in a war.

He had to grow up too.

His life continues.  A wife and child.  A job and the accompanying stress.  An irritating neighbor.  Bills and responsibilities.  And they all add up to a breaking point which is where Winnie the Pooh re-enters his life in a very adorable scene.  The rest of the movie is about recapturing the best of our childhood that we too often leave behind. It is intended to hit you right in the feels, and it does not miss the mark.

The movie heavily takes advantage of Ewan McGregor's energy and particular acting style.  Unfortunately Hayley Atwell is mostly wasted in a forgettable role of Christopher Robin's frustrated wife.  But the only actors that matter are the Hundred Acre Woods crew.  They look like classic stuffed animals and the voice acting for the most part echos closely to the originals.

The movie is not without flaws.  It is formulaic and predictable.  There is a problem at Christopher's work that is somewhat central to the plot and the resolution is painful, even if it is loosely based on some real life situations.  But this show was not trying to create a perfect movie, it was trying to make you feel a certain way.  And in this, it is wholly successful.

See this movie.  Allow yourself to let go and revel in the nostalgia.  You will not regret it.

Rating:  9/10 - A fantastic time, and something to enjoy with the whole family.

Kin

The best:  The last 15 minutes

The worst:  Plot focus

Comments:  Kin (released 8/31/18) is a movie that has two obstacles to overcome.  It doesn't know what type of movie it is and it relies on the last 15 minutes to carry everything.  Ultimately, I believe it was successful hurdling one of those two issues and ends up being a fun two hours.

I imagine that if you have an issue with this movie, it will be based around the lack of a cohesive focus to the plot.  At different times it tries to be a sci-fi movie, a family drama, a heist movie, a chase movie, a chase movie again but in a different way, a revenge movie, a redemption movie, a road trip movie, an action movie, and a buddy movie.  Any good movie will be some of those elements, but they will develop and focus the pieces that it takes.   You can take a heist movie theme and combine it into a buddy movie and end up with Ocean's Eleven or you can mix them differently and end up with Entrapment - the mix matters!  This movie can't decide what it wants to be and ends up bouncing between themes in a way that felt unsatisfying.  Ostensibly this is a sci-fi movie at its core yet sci-fi is present in only sporadic scenes.  And much more attention is paid to subplots that the movie could have lived without.

And then we get to the last 15 minutes.  Action and sci-fi take over and a huge surprise twist opens up a larger story (that we will probably never see).  It is exciting and fun and tries to both clean up some dangling subplots while tying some of the loose plot threads together.  It was a fun ending that left me happy enough.

As usual for a review that I write I have not read any reviews or looked at Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes.  But I imagine there will be mixed reviews because the viewer has to decide if the payoff in the closing sequence was worth the uneven storytelling it took to get there.  For me it was, I imagine for many others it will not be.

Rating:  5.5/10 - Worked for me, but left much to be desired.