Category: Film Review

The world of “Despicable Me” is big business for Illumination, putting the animation studio in play as a major contender in the global box office race. However, it’s been some time since Gru and his expanding family was in motion, with the last chapter, “Despicable Me 3,” released in 2017. There was a prequel of sorts in 2022’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” but “Despicable Me 4” looks to put the series back into drive, giving Gru more mouths to feed, enemies to battle, and students to teach. And, of course, the Minions are right behind him. Directors Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage have an opportunity with the third sequel to keep developing the world of Gru and his family responsibilities, but “Despicable Me 4” pulls everything apart. It goes the individual adventure route with all the characters, which doesn’t offer inspired comedy, and villainy is lacking in the feature, as too much is competing for screen time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

30 years is a long time to wait for a “Beverly Hills Cop” sequel, but perhaps the insane success of “Top Gun: Maverick” is to thank for the resurrection of Axel Foley. Audiences seem to be in the mood for the return of screen heroes from the 1980s, and “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is more than happy to remind viewers of the charms found in the first three chapters of this series. Nostalgia drives much of the new sequel, with director Mark Molloy (making his debut after years making commercials) in charge of making sure the action is intense and the comedy stays mostly alert. It’s not an entirely fresh offering of Foley-led mischief, but “Axel F” delivers a satisfying return for the character and his crime-busting, quip-launching ways. Murphy is awake and the supporting cast helps the cause, giving the movie some snap as it tries to balance the needs of a modern actioner with the hits of nostalgia the public loves these days. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Family frustrations and parental disappointment fuel the antagonisms of “Mother, Couch.” It’s an adaptation of a Jerker Virdborg novel, with writer/director Niclas Larsson tasked with creating a pressure cooker experience for the picture, which explores tensions among family members as a crisis breaks out at a furniture store. The material deals with dysfunction and estrangement, often in a bizarre manner, but there are certain truths about sibling relationships that help to ground the movie in some form of authenticity. The story ultimately walks away from reality, but when Larsson focuses on a buzzing negative energy, “Mother, Couch” holds attention, generating a level of nervousness that’s supported by strong editing and performances. There’s plenty of itchiness to the feature, but for those willing to stick with the oddity and intensity of the journey, moments of clarity manage to emerge. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s become clear that Hollywood doesn’t exactly know what to do with Emma Roberts. She’s had some success on television, participating in the “American Horror Story” series, but her film work hasn’t connected, trying her luck with romantic comedies (“Maybe I Do”), horror (“Abandoned”), and superhero cinema (“Madame Web”). Roberts goes for a very specific vibe in her latest endeavor, “Space Cadet,” with writer/director Liz W. Garcia (“The Lifeguard”) trying to make a Goldie Hawn comedy with the actress, who’s tasked with playing a character born with a fuzzy personality that often obscures her fierce intelligence, forced into a challenging situation of self-esteem. Roberts does well in the part, offering cheery broadness in “Space Cadet,” which is an entertaining, but not remarkable feature that’s light on laughs, but has a certain charm when viewed with lowered expectations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Boneyard” is “inspired by true events,” which is Hollywood code for “only a fraction of this story is rooted in reality.” The case in question is the West Mesa Murders, where, in 2009, an investigation commenced after the discovery of 11 dead women buried near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Screenwriters Hank Byrd, Vincent E. McDaniel, Koji Steven Sakai, and Asif Akbar (who also directs) attempt to turn real-world misery into a serial killer story of sorts, creating multiple law enforcement and mentally ill perspectives as they invent the details of all the deaths. Perhaps “Boneyard” was created with the utmost respect in mind for the victims (the picture is dedicated to them), but Akbar is also tasked with generating B-movie exploitation with the film, making sure to keep the viewing experience grubby, which diminishes any noble intent. The feature seems rather clueless when it comes to good taste and performances, leaving viewers with a limp whodunit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One year ago, Angel Studios released “Sound of Freedom.” The story of a man working to bust a child sex-trafficking ring became an enormous hit, beyond any and all expectations for the feature, riding waves of free publicity and a “pay it forward” ticket scheme to box office gold. It attracted a sizable and vocal audience, and one that wasn’t afraid to brand yours truly as a possible pedophile for writing a negative review of the absurdly crude film. For 2024, after a year of releasing movies that didn’t match the monetary returns of “Sound of Freedom” (including “Sight,” “The Shift,” and “Cabrini”), Angel Studios hopes to reignite a phenomenon with “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” which isn’t a sequel, but selects a similar title as the 2023 release, also dealing with a tale that focuses on the miseries facing children. However, while far from perfect, “Sound of Hope” is competently assembled and offers some sense of humanity, with enthusiastic performances often carrying this overview of family, faith, and profound pain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a screenwriter, Richard LaGravenese has made his mark with impressive work on features such as “The Fisher King,” “The Ref,” and “A Little Princess.” As a director, LaGravenese isn’t quite as accomplished, delivering deflated pictures like “Beautiful Creatures,” “Freedom Writers,” and “The Last Five Years.” He hasn’t guided a production in a decade, but such professional distance doesn’t strengthen his helming instincts, finding his latest, “A Family Affair,” suffering from the same tonal and behavioral issues as his previous endeavors. LaGravenese is trying to replicate the Nancy Myers experience with the movie, putting easily overwhelmed characters in the middle of absolute luxury, asking viewers to care about shallow creations and their solvable problems. “A Family Affair” isn’t madcap enough to be a comedy, and there’s little heart to sell it as a drama. It remains in a zombified state with strange choices for conflict, limiting its entertainment value. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2021’s “A Quiet Place Part II” certainly ended with a path forward for the new franchise, inspiring additional chapters involving one family’s fight against a dangerous alien invasion. However, before the end of the story is reached, the beginning is introduced, with the series heading back in time for a prequel in “A Quiet Place: Day One.” There’s an all-new cast and a large scope of terror to explore in the movie, which brings indie director Michael Sarnoski to the studio filmmaking big leagues after making an impressive helming debut with 2021’s “Pig.” Attention to human details remains with Sarnoski (who also scripts), who doesn’t go full-scale creature feature with “Day One,” following the lead of the other two installments, trying to balance the needs of characterization with the fright factor of the alien menace. He mostly scores with the endeavor, which retains most of the intensity of the brand name while gently opening the scope of the premise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Kevin Costner hasn’t directed a movie in 21 years, dating back to the release of “Open Range.” He’s incredibly capable when telling western tales, understanding the traditions of the genre and its slow-burn, epic moves while exploring the cowboy way. Also the driving force behind 1990’s “Dances with Wolves,” Costner has proven his skill with such storytelling. He’s been there and done that, which makes the mediocrity of “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” all the more frustrating to watch. Joined by co-writer Jon Baird, Costner embarks on a mission to explore the ways of mid-1800s America, with all types of families and attitudes set loose in the open world, trying to focus on the lust for control that inspires violence and revenge. “Chapter 1” is the first half of the story (“Chapter 2” is due out in August), but instead of kickstarting a stimulating overview of survival and antagonism, the feature just lays on the screen, mostly lacking dramatic inspiration and concise writing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2023 was a good year for director Yorgos Lanthimos. With “Poor Things,” the helmer was handed his largest budget to date, and found himself with the biggest success of his career, reaching new box office heights and achieving awards season glory. Instead of building on such momentum, Lanthimos returns to his low-budget roots with “Kinds of Kindness,” which doesn’t have much in the way of money to spend, but there’s plenty of weirdness contained in the feature to fill a few movies. Press materials list the endeavor as a “triptych fable,” offering three tales of mental and physical breakdowns, with panic, in many forms, driving the viewing experience. Lanthimos isn’t trying something new with the project, delivering his customary oddness and extremity with the effort. It’s a black comedy that’s surprisingly low on laughs, but the production does have the commitment of the cast, who do their best to bring Lanthimos’s peculiarities and fetishes to life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With murder mysteries becoming somewhat popular with moviegoers again, director Chris Nelson (“Ass Backwards,” “Date and Switch”) tries his luck with “Reunion,” which offers a slack comedic approach to a detective story. Scripted by Jake Emanuel and Willie Block, the feature arranges the usual in this kind of entertainment, placing a handful of characters in a remote location, and the murder of one of them sets up a scramble for accusations, commencing the hunt for clues concerning the true assailant. “Reunion” (which was shot nearly three years ago) has the idea to manufacture a funny whodunit, but Nelson falls short of his goal. Instead of a tightly directed tale of suspicion, the picture is more improvisational in nature, setting the actors loose to play with the weirdness and rising concerns of these personalities. The laughs just don’t arrive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a long time since Jordan Scott directed a film. In 2009, she made her debut with “Cracks,” doing a commendable job with the feature’s examination of desire, crafting a passable psychological drama. She finally returns with “A Sacrifice” (co-produced by her father, Ridley Scott), which also delves into the dark recesses of the human mind, only here the focus is on the power of persuasion and the lure of cults when dealing with hopelessly lost people. Scott takes a writing credit on the picture as well, adapting a 2015 novel by Nicholas Hogg, aiming to manufacture her own take on “The Wicker Man” with this study of deception and evil. She’s also hoping to maintain a more emotional core to the endeavor, finding capable actors to realize deeper feelings while the writing tends to follow a traditional path of conflict and resolution after teasing some disturbing directions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Simplicity is rare to find in cinema these days, as producers are generally eager to overwhelm viewers as a way to impress them. “Daddio” doesn’t have much to offer in a visual sense, mostly remaining inside a New York City taxi cab for the run time, studying a developing relationship between a forward driver and his customer as they discuss their lives over the course of a very long ride. It’s the kind of idea that’s usually reserved for the stage, but writer/director Christy Hall (making her helming debut) strives to make a movie out of “Daddio,” hiring two actors who share decent chemistry and providing a script that enjoys the mischief of surface exploration before it takes time to get achingly real with the characters. The endeavor isn’t profound, but Hall locates pockets of pain to explore, delivering a compelling examination of guarded people developing a powerful sense of trust during a ride home from the airport. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Chuck Norris hasn’t appeared in a film since 2012, where he dropped in for a cameo in “The Expendables 2.” A once mighty force in screen action, Norris has aged out of the game, making his casting in “Agent Recon” a curiosity, with his image the primary focus of marketing efforts, promising a starring role. Alas, that’s not the case here, with Norris participating in two scenes for writer/director/actor Derek Ting, who tries to make the most of what appears to be a few hours of Norris’s time on-set. “Agent Recon” could use more of the B-movie hero, but this is Ting’s thing, and the picture is actually the second sequel to 2017’s “Agent,” with the helmer creating a sci-fi-action franchise to celebrate his own screen presence, only lacking any sort of budget to craft an epic. Perhaps there are fans of “Agent” and its follow-up, 2021’s “Agent Revelation,” but that’s up for debate. The reality here is how Norris-less the feature is, and admirers of the actor should take that into consideration before enduring this painfully clumsy endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Lisa Downs has created a cottage industry with her trips into nostalgia. She’s the force behind the “Life After” series, examining the days of fantasy moviemaking and personal drama in efforts such as “Life After Flash” and “Life After the Navigator,” and she returns with “Life After The NeverEnding Story.” There’s a mighty subject in the making of the 1984 Wolfgang Petersen picture, which was Germany’s most expensive endeavor at the time, eventually finding a global audience that kept fandom warm and toasty for the next 40 years. “The NeverEnding Story” is a special film, and Downs tries her best to understand its creation and how such an experience shaped members of the cast and crew. Much like the other two chapters in this series, Downs can’t quite connect all the dots, but there are many fascinating interviews and images to savor, allowing access to the creation of the beloved epic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The general cooling of Jessica Alba’s acting career is perhaps best exemplified in “Trigger Warning” (which was shot nearly three years ago). The actress is fitted for a one-woman-army role, tasked with portraying a believable, military-trained killing machine in the endeavor, giving her the “John Wick” treatment for viewers who’ve had their fill of these movies in recent years. The writing sets up a simple examination of good vs. evil in the American southwest, and it hands indie director Mouly Surya her first big studio picture. All that really needs to happen here is competent hellraising from a questionable source of fury, but “Trigger Warning” often stumbles, especially with poor writing and lackluster performances. Alba commits to the physical needs of the part, but she’s somewhat lost in a film that hopes to summon the spirit of Chuck Norris, but only gets as far as Joe Don Baker. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Exorcism” has quite a production history, with the project originally filmed in 2019 under the guidance of co-writer/director Joshua John Miller, a former child actor (“Teen Witch,” “River’s Edge,” and “Near Dark”) making his first movie since his helming debut, which was released in 1999. The project hit plenty of roadblocks, including difficulties with the COVID-19 pandemic, and reshoots occurred four years later, hinting at major changes to the material long after its original interpretation. And now “The Exorcism” is in theaters, finally offered to the public, and audiences are treated to a story that definitely doesn’t unfold with confidence. Something happened to the feature over the years, and the final cut reflects such indecision, with Miller and co-writer M.A. Fortin heading in an interesting direction with their screenplay, while the picture itself feels like a crude reworking of a deeper idea, slathered with horror formula to make it palatable to the mass audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Erica Tremblay is a documentarian turning to a more dramatic endeavor with “Fancy Dance.” She explores the experience of Native American concerns and reservation life, with specific interest in a missing persons case and its connection to a cultural event and family issues. A minor mystery brews in the screenplay (co-written by Miciana Alise), which delivers a compelling examination of growing despair as characters hunt for answers. However, the big draw of “Fancy Dance” is its human side, with Tremblay striving to maintain focus on all the fragile feelings in play. There’s not a major sweep of suspense in the film, but the picture does have its moments of investigation and confession, and a talented cast is more than capable of bringing the material to life, even during its clumsiest scenes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a 94-year-old actress, June Squibb has been working for decades, but she’s only really enjoyed a breakthrough in her career over the last ten years, caught stealing scenes in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska.” Typically the bright spot of any movie she appears in, Squibb finally receives her own starring vehicle in “Thelma,” which is similar in story to last winter’s “The Beekeeper,” finding a fresher way to detail a revenge tale, getting there through outstanding writing and directing from Josh Margolin, who makes his debut with the endeavor. The helmer doesn’t go the action way with the picture, preferring to sink into character and some levels of comedic chaos, and Squibb doesn’t miss a step in the lead role, clearly having a ball portraying a driven grandmother looking to reclaim money stolen from her by scammers. “Thelma” is fresh, heartening, and hilarious, with Margolin skillfully making a feature that’s wildly entertaining but also softer when necessary, offering a touch of reality to go with all the craziness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jeff Nichols hasn’t made a feature since 2016’s “Loving,” and he returns to screens with an unusual study of family in “The Bikeriders,” which continues his career mission to explore various kinds of relationships and cultures. It’s an adaptation of a photo book by Danny Lyon, who collected pictures and interviews from those involved with a motorcycle club, seeking to understand what life was like inside such a volatile organization. Nichols (who also scripts) follows this lead, creating a film of moments, memories, and connections, eschewing plot to explore camaraderie and forms of respect. “The Bikeriders” is loaded with atmosphere and stacked with a cast of brooding male talent, and the helmer works hard to keep viewers in this haze of brotherhood as it evolves from something almost pure to a more organized display of criminal activity. It’s not always a hypnotic movie, but there are moments where the endeavor feels lived-in, capturing a time in American life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com