Tag: Adventure

Peter Pan’s Wendy is Growing Up

A few aspects in life will remain a mystery through the veil of youthful ignorance. Wendy tries to stick to that ideology but fails when Zeitlin knows that one day, the Lost Boys have to grow up.

Wendy Movie PosterAvailable online on VOD & iTunes

Anyone attempting to reimagine the whimsical nature that defines Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie for cinema is in for a challenge. Writer-Director Benh Zeitlin tries, and with Eliza Zeitlin sharing the credit in their screenplay, the story about Wendy (Devin France) can’t decide if it should entirely focus on this title character or simply be about motherhood.

The odd part is that she is the youngest of the Darling family and along with her older siblings are wisked off to a fantasy island where they can be care free.

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Dolittle on Home Video, and It Isn’t Eddie Murphy!

Not every movie that Robert Downey Jr., is in will do great theatrically; Dolittle has a lot of wonderful set design and may perform better in the rental/home video market.

Dolittle [Blu-ray]: Robert Downey Jr.,
Available on Amazon USADolittle
Release Date:
April 7, 2020

Disney’s reimagined Dolittle arrives on home video today, and it could do with some editing to bring down its lengthy run time. I admit to falling in love with the former version starring Eddie Murphy. It was lively, funny and entertaining. His on screen charm made those films a delightful watch.

This newest version with Robert Downey Jr. has a feel of him trying to be a different kind of Sherlock. It’s more adventure than playful. After playing Tony Stark, I’m sure this actor wanted a role other than this egotistical billionaire. That’s the last thing he wants, and I still feel his best performance is as Chaplin. He nailed the pathos of Charlie easily, and tries to do something different for this latest role.

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Netflix Spectros – When the Folklore Doesn’t Hit Home

Sadly, Spectros has nothing to make the supernatural feel like it came from South America!

Spectros Netflix Series - Promotional PosterAnyone who loves supernatural Japan should tune into Spectros right away! The series blends paranormal with Breakfast Club mentality from three teens–Pardal (Danilo Mesquita), Carla (Mariana Sena) and Mila (Cláudia Okuno)–coming together to deal with the supernatural coalescing in their neighbourhood of Liberdade in São Paulo, Brazil.

Ultimately, this series is the type of cheesy pulp action style fun expected when showrunner Douglas Petrie was a key figure in the production of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

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What Will It Take for Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey to Recoup?

Image result for harley quinn birds of prey posterBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Harley Quinn is a tough nut to crack. When she more or less helped form the Birds of Prey, the question of who is the protagonist and antagonist almost needs to be asked. To save viewers from the confusion, the longer movie title of (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) took too long so say in one breath. And it took far too long for me to finally decide to see this film. I was lucky to see it before it completely disappeared from theatres.

Margot Robbie loves playing the psychiatrist turned psycho killer. That much is certain. If she doesn’t run far enough away from her former shackles–The Talking Heads notwithstanding–she’ll never truly be free.

I remember the television show from decades ago and it generally worked. The movie counts on fans not remembering that iteration and redoes how Harley pretty much helped form the Birds. Unfortunately, this film sadly doesn’t come out as very memorable. It’s more of a setup for later escapades.

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A Day at the Races with Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Poster As Sonic the Hedgehog stays ahead in dominating the box office, this movie has everything video game aficionados of the Sega game expect to see. There are fun moments of him jumping around, dodging drones, and saving his friends all while searching for mystic rings that can help him teleport to new worlds. This real world setting may well hint at the next game–should look like if developers want to create Sonic Maximum 3D Overdrive.

The blue speedster is a kid who wants genuine friendships. When he’s a unique creature others want to exploit, to know who are his allies and enemies require him to stay ahead of the game. Ben Schwartz is excellent in the role, and when the plot focuses on how to build trust, that’s a terrific start. This first film is more than just a mere introduction.  While stuck on Earth, Sonic has to find someone to trust, and eventually comes to believe small-town sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his veterinarian wife, Maddie (Tika Sumpter) can help him.

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Kipo’s Gotta Wear Shades in the Age of the Wonderbeasts

Kippo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts Movie PosterAvailable on Netflix

When bizarro fantasy meets post-apocalypse, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is an exotic experience punctuated by its musical interludes. The soundtrack is a mix of hip hop and industrial. The songs are actually part of the narrative instead of musical bookends to move the story forward. Music Supervisor Kier Lehman (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and composer Daniel Rojas (Downsizing) have done an incredible job!

I think of this program of reversing an idea presented in Futurama. The mutants went underground and the normals lived in a high-tech world. Reverse this idea and that’s this series in a nutshell.

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