Teen Titans GO! To The Movies - Review

 

For those unfamiliar with the show, “Teen Titans GO!” is a reboot of the original early 2000’s “Teen Titans” TV series. It abandoned the original’s serial-based plots and anime inspired style, for colorful flash animation art and quippy pop culture references and poop jokes. While the show has received generally mixed reception over its run, Warner Bros. Animation has decided to bring it to the big screen with “Teen Titans GO! To The Movies.” Can it be better than its source material?

Fans of the “GO!” reboot will be glad to hear that the show’s brand of fast paced jokes remains intact in this adaptation. However, even detractors will be glad to hear that the film’s sense of humor and storytelling is leagues ahead of what the show has to offer.

Jokes hit their mark far more often than in the show, leading to many amusing references and tongue in cheek jokes related to superheroes and the movies created around them. Both DC and Marvel are targets throughout the film, and some of the best jokes come from a true place of surprise.

This awareness of superhero abundance also helps the story succeed as well. The plot is based around the overabundance of superhero films, so much so that heroes without a film are considered inferior. This leads Robin to attempt to land himself a movie, and thus we have the basic plot.

It all works nicely together, jelling like a Saturday Morning Robot Chicken episode. There are indeed a few jokes that don’t land, and some that over stay their welcome. They’re easy to look past, though, due to the rapid-fire nature of other background and foreground gags happening, and the earnestness of the vocal performances, with Scott Menville (“Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue,” “The 7D”), Hynden Walch (“Adventure Time,” “ChalkZone”), Khary Payton (“Young Justice,” “The Walking Dead”), Tara Strong (“Batman: Arkham City,” “The Powerpuff Girls”), and Greg Cipes (“Ben 10,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)”) all reprising their roles as Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy, respectively.

Will Arnett (“Horrible Bosses,” “Arrested Development”) and Kristen Bell (“The Good Place,” “Veronica Mars”) provide great work, and there are a whole host of cameos that are wonderfully done, but the real stars are the Titans. The cast from both the original show and “GO!” reprise their roles and bring a cheerful earnestness that only seasoned voice actors can bring to a film this bizarre.

Halfway through the film, the plot seems to stop for an extended gag based around time-travel, and that gag is the best way to describe “To The Movies” as a whole. It puts the plot at a standstill to have some fun riffing in the DC universe. It isn’t Shakespeare, and isn’t going to deconstruct the way we view superhero films, but it is a bundle of fun, and that’s all it wants to be.

Surprisingly, there are also quite a few musical numbers that are pulled off well. The film also switches back and forth between different animation styles and techniques for different gags, even poking fun at a Disney classic about a third of the way through in what is probably the film’s best joke.

If you need 90 minutes of fun, look no further than “Teen Titans GO! To The Movies.” Fixing many of the problems the show had, the film is extremely funny with a well thought out plot. Nothing here is Oscar worthy, and there are definitely parts where it dips into the realm of grating, but the highs absolutely outweigh the lows to provide the most bizarre superhero film and studio film this side of Deadpool’s domain. 4/5

Mission Impossible: Fallout - Review

 

Love him or hate him, Tom Cruise (“Top Gun,” “Tropic Thunder”) will undeniably put himself on the line for his beloved “Mission Impossible” films. “Fallout” is no different, featuring lots of real-world stunts and crazy action, but it's also unique within its own series.

“Fallout” is the first film in the series to pull plot and character elements directly from a previous film, “Rogue Nation”, to build its story. Ethan Hunt must track down plutonium being sold to the remaining members of the previous film’s villain organization, The Syndicate, now known as The Apostles.

The film keeps the pace up throughout its entirety, not once letting audience members take a breath until the very end. It's incredibly refreshing that this tension works so well. Often in blockbuster cinema, threats to the characters feel so inconsequential and fake, due to an over-reliance on CGI, close calls, or any combination of things.

However, this is directly what sets “Fallout” apart. It feels like at any moment, something could go wrong. This is backed up by the green screen-less stunts and the rock-solid emotional core of the plot, and it allows the film’s tension to remain, even throughout quiet scenes.

“Fallout” isn’t afraid to put its characters through hell, but not just physically. “Fallout” is the most emotional of all the “MI” films, with moments of heart and tears peppered throughout the action. These are people who constantly put their lives on the line and could come back dead, and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (“The Way of the Gun,” “Jack Reacher”) isn’t afraid to touch on those sentiments.

It’s almost impossible to describe what makes this outing so great, especially in comparison to 2011’s “Ghost Protocol,” and 2015’s “Rogue Nation.” Both are excellent films, head and shoulders above the first three, but there’s just a spirit within “Fallout” that sets it apart.

Never before has it felt like Hunt and his team could truly lose their fight, and it’s been years since any action film has so expertly avoided the feeling of inevitable victory. This is a film not afraid to pull punches, and yet it never feels too down. It does dabble in the somberness of its situation, with plenty of painful ironies and close calls, but it never overwhelms the proceedings.

That’s due to Cruise and McQuarrie having such a tight grip on the details and heartbeat of the film itself. It never goes anywhere they don’t want it to, meaning every fleeting moment can be carefully calculated to deliver the most excellent action film they’re capable of making.

Cinematographer Rob Hardy (“Ex Machina”) helps to bolster this excellence by giving the film an absolutely gorgeous look. Warm colors, in particular orange, accentuate this adventure, coupled with the most excellent musical score the series has seen yet courtesy of Lorne Balfe (“Pacific Rim Uprising”, “The LEGO Batman Movie”).

Cruise and the rest of the cast bring their A game to these proceedings, ratcheting the tension up even higher thanks to genuine emotional performances from each. Ving Rhames in particular is a standout, finally getting the recognition he deserves for his efforts throughout the series.

The entire film is such a white-knuckle experience that keeps you so in the moment, that it isn’t until credits role that audiences can appreciate just how good the film was. It’s an action film that delivers best in class action, without ever letting it sacrifice the character’s emotional arcs, the plot, or really anything.

It isn’t a stretch to call “Mission Impossible: Fallout” the best action film of the year, and one of the year’s best so far. It also wouldn’t be a stretch to put it up near “Die Hard”, “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “The Dark Knight”, or “The Great Escape (1963)” as one of the greatest action films ever made, period. Relentlessly tense, constructed with razor sharp genius attention to detail in both its action and its emotion, and gorgeous to look at, “Fallout” isn’t just a damn good time at the movies. It’s pure, sublime and phenomenal. Mission accomplished. 5/5

Sorry to Bother You - Review

 

Everything you’ve heard is true. “Sorry To Bother You” is incredible. Boots Riley’s directorial debut is a contradiction in and of itself. A film advocating against capitalism that is smashing box office records. It’s a film that shouldn’t exist in this day and age, and the fact that it does makes it all the better.

The plot centers on Cassius Green, a telemarketer for RegalView who is inspired by a coworker to start using his “white voice” while on calls. He does so, and immediately becomes successful. This is what the film’s summaries and trailers describe, but it only amounts to the first third of the film. That first third is also interesting in the context of the film itself.

It has bizarre editing choices and chooses to fixate on odd points and visuals. Some moments feel awkward and some lines are delivered bizarrely. However, once Cassius begins to see the world around him as it truly exists, as opposed to how he thinks it exists, those flaws fade away, and it becomes apparent that these were all choices made by Riley to further build the world of his film.

Decisions like this come up all throughout the film. The cinematography and sets give way to some extremely inventive scenarios that are pure low budget eye candy. Everything has a kind of weird tilt to it that seems reminiscent of if Terry Giliam’s “Brazil” was set in a modern-day Oakland.

Lakeith Stanfield (“Short Term 12,” “Death Note (2017)”) plays Cassius with a goofy kind of incompetence that grows and festers throughout the film, boiling over to create a rebirth that is a joy to watch. His performance in the latter half of the film is further enhanced thanks to great “white voice” work from David Cross (“Mr. Show”, “Arrested Development”) Tessa Thompson (“Dear White People”, “Thor: Ragnarok”) plays his morally grounded, activist girlfriend Detroit with razor sharp wit and a refusal to step down from her beliefs.

Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Idiocracy”), Jermaine Fowler (“Superior Donuts,” “Crashing”), Steven Yeun (“The Walking Dead,” “Okja”), and Danny Glover (“The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Color Purple”) round out the supporting cast as Cassius’s Uncle and friends, respectively. However, it's Omari Hardwick (“Power,” “For Colored Girls”) and Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”) who completely steal the show as the manager of RegalView and the manager of WorryFree, respectively. Omari manages to provide a swagger that’s intoxicating to watch, backed up by a sleazily great “white voice” provided by Patton Oswalt (“The Goldbergs,” “Rataouille”).

“Sorry To Bother You” clearly has a lot to say. From the long scenes depicting violence towards labor unions to WorryFree’s clear slavery parallels to the latter half of the film’s startling twist, it's not afraid to put its messages front and center. However, within that decision lies the genius of Riley’s script and his world building.

This is a journey and a world so bizarrely similar and disconnected from our own, that one can ignore the political and moral allegories and still have fun with the bonkers nature of everything happening on screen. Riley carefully balances these elements in such a way that they always complement each other and never sabotage themselves. There’s even nods for hardcore film fans, including one particularly knowing wink towards director Michel Gondry’s work.

Top all of that off with a joyously bizarre musical score and set designs and you’ve got one of the most unique, bizarre, and batshit movies of the entire year, and maybe the entire decade. It's staggering that a film that features deep themes of classism and violent riots, can also pull of some extremely juvenile humor expertly. It’s a sign of a great director and a great satire.

Boots Riley has unmistakably made a mark on cinema with an audacious and bizarre debut that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. The balance of sharp wit and sobering truths, even in the face of some of the most insane ideas of the last decade of filmmaking, backed up with creative sets, cinematography and acting helps to make “Sorry To Bother You” an absolutely unforgettable satirical treat. The future is calling, Mr. Riley. And it may have an Oscar for you. 5/5

Ant-Man and the Wasp - Review

In a way, the first Ant-Man film was a throwback to the early days of the Marvel Cinematic universe when it was released in 2015. It was a solo film with smaller stakes that introduced the world to a bizarre hero. It was good, not great. And it was soon followed up with its main character appearing in a team up film. However, will Ant-Man and Wasp continue to follow in the footsteps of their Marvel Cinematic Universe counterparts, and produced a sequel better than the first?

Paul Rudd (“Clueless,” “Anchorman”) remains as charming as ever as the goofy Scott Lang, an ex-con turned superhero dealing with the repercussions of his decisions in “Civil War.” But his story is not the focus here. Evangeline Lilly (“Lost,” “The Hurt Locker”) helps to transition the character of Wasp away from a nagging two-dimensional daughter figure from the first film and into a fleshed-out superheroine here.

Her story is clearly the focus, and the ongoing struggles of her and her father play wonderfully against the carefree nature of Scott and his own struggles. There are a lot of elements at play all at once here, and while not all of them are done as well as others, the fact that they're all happening at once helps to add to the sense of urgency and to the film's time component.

That's right, in a wise move, the film is mostly on a time limit, and it helps to raise the stakes on an otherwise small-scale adventure. It adds some wonderful tension to the proceedings as well as create moments for humor. And there are a lot of humorous moments.

It’s as if Marvel saw the reception to the first film and simply gave the writing team of Chris McKenna (“The Lego Batman Movie,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”), Erik Sommers (“The Lego Batman Movie,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”), Andrew Barrer (“Haunt”), Gabriel Ferrariand, and Rudd and director Peyton Reed (“Yes Man,” “Down with Love”) more room to get weird with the character and the humor. It ends up being funnier than the first film because of this, and probably one of the weirdest Marvel movies yet.

Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen (“Black Mirror,” “Game of Thrones”) makes for an extremely interesting antagonist, especially when her motives and goals become revealed. This aren’t always as black and white as they seem, and the writers clearly enjoyed pitting these different minds and motives against each other.

Shrinking and growing around within the action is still extremely cool, and the crew continues to take advantage of the size differences for some visually engaging battles. It never gets old to see them jump around a wall at the size of an ant, only to grow to a building a moment later. Most scenes play out like Rube Goldberg machines of tiny action and they’re a joy to watch.

Overall, it’s just a more solid film than the first. The script is tighter, the story is more fleshed out and original, and the humor is brighter. Rudd really struts his stuff in the third act with some truly weird bits (“Oh, jellybean.”).

It also helps to show that Marvel still understands the importance of smaller scale stories. It’s fun to roam around the universe and save the world from Hydra death bombs, but it’s also perfectly fine to not do that. It helps create a sense of ease and carefree enjoyment within these smaller adventures.

However, that does lead to the fact that the film is weak in quite a few spots. The pre-Marvel logo scene feels like it unnecessarily talks down to the audience and second set of villains really feel undercooked. Again, the film does have a smaller scale and focus than past Marvel films, and some will also see that as a negative.

None of this can change the fact that “Ant-Man & the Wasp” is still a bunch of fun. It’s a funny film that isn’t afraid to get weird and let its incredibly charismatic stars just let loss and do their thing. Couple that with some excellent action and emotional arcs, and you get a film that is just an incredibly solid adventure. Nothing huge, but then again, that’s not really what Ant-Man or the Wasp do. Small scale enjoyment is their specialty. 4/5