Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Actors: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D. J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, Helen Mirren

Rating: 7 out of 10, A sequel to the surprisingly fresh first movie was always going to be tough. The sheer innocence of teenagers thrust into the bodies of superheroes was a neat concept and ably exploited in the first film. They try the same thing here but its not as successful. Luckily the superb cast lifts the material into an amusing experience. Zach Levi once again is tone perfect as the lead effortlessly capturing the teenage angst at loose within Shazam. There are some very funny moments as the group of superheroes deals with a trio of 6000 year old sisters bent on revenges played with appropriate aplomb by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler. Zegler proves that her West Side screen presence was no fluke. The usually dour DC universe needs this light touch and it was nice seeing the Phillies home park get smoked, but I digress. A lot of fun, an inch deep, but worth it.

MVP: Levi in title role is still compelling

Operation Fortune Ruse de Guerre

Actors: Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, Hugh Grant

Rating: 8 out of 10, A Jason Statham vehicle with a very interesting cast in a Guy Ritchie movie. Statham plays his usual superspy but he’s ably assisted by Aubrey Plaza who steals every scene she’s in. They are trying to retrieve the customary world threatening computer device from a dastardly arms dealer, played with smarmy relish by Hugh Grant. Ritchie and Grant make a great team. A self-important Hollywood movie star (is there any other kind?) portrayed by a funny Josh Hartnett is dragooned into the recovery effort. The action is well staged and the plot moves in typical Ritchie swoops. I really enjoyed it, a good movie.

MVP: Aubrey Plaza, as Sarah stealing every single scene

Antman and the Wasp Quantumania

Actors: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, Michael Douglas

Rating: 8 out of 10, I loved the first two Antman movies which tapped into Paul Ruud’s immense charisma and comic timing. This one suffers a bit by focusing too much on his daughter Cassie, who’s kind of annoying. The movie is rescued by old stalwarts Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer although Evangeline Lilly is criminally underused. Jonathan Majors steals virtually every scene he is in as a truly powerful villain. There are a couple very funny cameos as the entire group is sucked down into the sub-universe where Pfeiffer’s character was rescued from in the last movie. Soon they are immersed in a civil war that, being a Marvel movie, has reality-wide implications. While not as much fun as the earlier two movies this still delivers. Good movie.

MVP: Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, so watchable

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Actors: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Angela Bassett

Rating: 8 out of 10, I was excited to see this, as I am with most Marvel movies, and while I enjoyed it, overall I was left with a feeling of “ehhh”. After the first Black Panther movie soared, I was probably expecting too much. The filmmakers do an excellent job of honoring the late Chadwick Boseman but their personal feelings of loss permeated the movie a little too much. The action was broken up by long periods of navel contemplation. I think they also erred by making Letitia Wright the lead which is understandable as she was fantastic as a supporting actress. She just didn’t have the chops to carry the movie and this was only too obvious when they finally bring Lupita Nyong'o back. She should have been the focus, she’s that good. So, I enjoyed the movie, who couldn’t when a de-humidifier is the ultimate weapon, but it was a two hour movie crammed into nearly three hours (it felt longer).

MVP: Danai Gurira as Okoye, incredible screen presence as Wakandan general

Violent Night

Actors: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, Leah Brady, Beverly D'Angelo

Rating: 8 out of 10, Violent Night will never be a heartwarming Christmas movie but it is a lot of fun and a lot of heart is on display, some of it literally. David Harbour, of Stranger Things fame, is truly awesome as an alcoholic Santa bemoaning a drop in Christmas spirit and the rise of materialism. He stumbles, literally (damned massage chair), into an armed gang’s takeover of a super-rich family’s Christmas. Hijinks ensue as we learn of Santa’s origins as a Viking warrior which means the appearance of a sledge hammer is very bad news for the bad guys. Some very violent and very funny scenes follow as virtually every venerable Christmas item, from candy canes to ornaments, is put to deadly use. Mrs. Clark Griswold plays the dastardly family matriarch but her granddaughter, as the only one who believes (and activates) Santa, steals the movie in a very Home Alone way. All this is done to traditional Christmas music in the background. It’s bloody but It’s also so much fun, pure escapism.

MVP: Harbour as a very dangerous Santa

Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Actors: Nicholas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish

Rating: 9 out of 10, The funniest movie I’ve seen in a very long time. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is awesome. It features Nicholas Cage doing a heartfelt send up of Nicholas Cage. He’s been the center of so many memes over the years that there was rich territory to explore on this effort and they mined it for all its worth. You have to admire him for this because 99.9% of actors wouldn’t be secure enough to so thoroughly skewer their cinematic personae like this. It’s also a very funny buddy flick as Cage teams up with superfan Pedro Pascal in a kidnapping plot worthy of Cage’s Con-Air era. This is Pascal’s best work since he was a Dornish prince. There are also some hilarious bits where Cage interacts with a younger version of himself. I can’t recommend this enough, Funniest movie I’ve seen in years. Cage is my new hero, taking direct aim at Hollywood’s endemic self-importance.

MVP: Cage as Cage in all his glory

Plane

Actors: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Tony Goldwyn

Rating: 8 out of 10, This was a throwback action movie that relied more on tension and action than an excess helping of the latest CGI effects. Gerard Butler effortlessly carries the movie with a lot of help from a very good Mike Colter, who looks like he has a bright future. Butler sets a record for piloting a plane with the most bullet wounds but it was one of those movies you forgive the gaping plot holes because the action and pace are so well done. Butler flies a cut rate airlines plane across the Philippine Sea only to crash land on a terrorist infected island, don’t you hate it when that happens? It turns out to be bad news for the terrorists as Butler and Colter, as an FBI imprisoned criminal, are soon cutting a swath through them, aiming towards their fun and totally unbelievable climax. Loved it.

MVP: Butler as Brodie Torrance, pilot and seemingly unkillable fighter