Jumanji The Next Level

Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Awkwafina, Rory McCann, Danny Glover, Danny DeVito

Rating: 8 out of 10, This is a literal continuation of the same plot from the first movie with just enough change thrown in to keep it fresh. The Rock is back but is inhabited by a senior citizen this time instead of a hormone plagued teenage boy. Both the Rock and his pint sized buddy Kevin Hart are dominated by Karen Gillan who returns as Ruby Roundhouse. She and newcomer Akwafina provide the needed life into the group as the Rock and Hart deal with senior citizen issues, which, considering my age, shouldn’t be dismissed so blithely. This time out the avatars are trying to chase down Sandor Clegane who’s stolen an important jewel. The characters are easy to invest in and this is a nice, familiar ride that’s worth the watch for the stunts involved and the likable actors running through their paces.

MVP: Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse

21 Bridges

Actors: Chadwick Boseman, Stephan James, Taylor Kitsch, Sienna Miller, Keith David, J. K. Simmons

Rating: 8 out of 10, This is a fairly straight forward cop movie elevated by the Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman. He truly hoists what could have been silly otherwise. He’s charged with finding two killers who just offed seven NYC cops and chooses to close off the island of Manhattan to do it. Those of you who’ve been to the Big Apple will understand how inane that premise is but let’s go with it. Sienna Miller is glammed down to play his partner. I would have loved this movie except for the musical score. It was so jarring and amateurish as to distract from the movie itself. I think that defines failure for whoever was responsible for it. It felt like a 1970’s TV movie musical score was copied and then amped up at precisely the wrong moments throughout. Despite this almost constant irritation it’s easy to engage with Boseman as the lone knight fighting in a sea of corruption. Good flick.

MVP: James as Michael Trujillo – the conflicted cop killer

Knives Out

Actors: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer

Rating: 10 out of 10, Clever. That’s the word I’m searching for because this flick was that as well as a serious amount of fun. Director Rian Johnson takes the well-trod murder mystery film milieu and makes it his own with a serious stock of red herrings as well as well-turned twists. 007 displays a serious southern drawl flawlessly as a private eye charged with solving the murder/suicide of a prominent mystery novelist. How this guy got any work in New England with that accent is one of the unanswered mysteries. The rest of the very talented cast delivers as well as the totally dysfunctional family of the victim. There are some real laugh out loud moments as the pieces come together assisted by what must be the first use of a projectile vomiting lie detector. Trust me – it works. It’s the kind of movie I want to see again right away so I can spot the clues that I missed. A very entertaining and grown-up mystery. I loved it.

MVP: de Armas as Marta – the best of the bunch

Midway

Actors: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, Woody Harrelson.

Rating: 9 out of 10, a truly epic retelling of the turning point battle of World War 2 in the Pacific. I wasn’t sure why this needed to be redone but I’m glad they did because this is case where the real events didn’t need to be embellished and CGI technology brings you right into the pilot’s seat as they dodge flak on their bombing runs. The plot is loyal to the actual history depicting the futility of the early American failures in the initial attacks followed by the sublime courage of the naval aviator attacks on the Japanese carriers. It was a little jarring to see Ed Skrien with his heretofore very British personae sporting a Brooklyn accent but he carries it off. The rest of the cast is equally good with a real attempt to be historically accurate with every aspect, including hairstyles and uniforms. It was an almost impossible task to capture the sweeping world changing events of the short months from Pearl Harbor to Midway but the filmmakers accomplish this and get you to invest in a couple of the well-defined characters as well. I found myself actually gripping the arms of my seat when the dive bombers started their runs through the flak – awesome war movie.

MVP: Wilson as Commander Layton the intel officer who put it all together