Top Gun Maverick

Actors: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris

Rating: 9 out of 10, You might have heard this is a good movie. That is incorrect. It is a great movie that significantly improves on the original. Cruise is in a word, a true movie star, and he delivers once again. He brings the swagger but also the internal conflicts of the title character, dealing with advancing age while trying to teach a younger generation, including Goose’s son about combat flying. There is a vast improvement in the military hardware aspects over the original as well, thanks to CGI, of course. While the acting is very good it’s the action that makes this movie special. There were so many times you’ll want to jump out of the seat and cheer at the improbable, okay, impossible, hijinks displayed. A pure, summer popcorn movie that delivers on every promise. Best movie I’ve seen this year.

MVP: Cruise as Maverick shows some surprising depth

Thor, Love and Thunder

Actors: Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Natalie Portman

Rating: 8 out of 10, Thor: Love and Thunder continues Marvel’s winning streak but is very different. Marvel noted the audience reactions to the whimsically funny parts of the prior Waititi Thor movie and decided to go all in. This was Taika fully unbound and the first half of the movie was dedicated almost non-stop to poking fun at the whole scenario. It was funny but it became almost too much before the plot remembered it needed to move forward and provide the requisite action. I was worried going in about Portman as the female Thor but it was done well, if completely at a very obliging Hemsworth’s deference. So, a lot of fun as a full-on, popcorn filled, summer Marvel blockbuster, with a more than a full dose of Waititi flair.

MVP: Hemsworth as Thor, he so owns this role

Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams

Rating: 8 out of 10, This will go down as another Marvel win with the engaging cast taking the story in a number of different ways. There was a definite different tone with Sam Raimi at the helm which also meant the obligatory (and welcome) Bruce Campbell cameo. Dr Strange is called upon the save not only ours but a multitude of other dimensions as well. It was kind of weird that a newly introduced Latina character had a superpower of being able to cross borders but that’s for right wing to pick up and run with. She was very good as was the Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen. This could have been labeled as her movie every bit as much as the doctor’s as she takes her character in a wild new direction. Following up on the crossover-a-palooza of the last Spiderman movie, there are almost too many crossover characters from other movies to count; but that’s what you get when you open up the multiverse. A great summer movie ride that I thoroughly enjoyed.

MVP: Olsen as the uber-depressed witch

Jurassic World, Dominion

Actors: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, BD Wong, Omar Sy

Rating: 8 out of 10, This brings virtually all of the non-consumed characters from all the Jurassic movies together, including the very first with Sam Neill and Laura Dern. That might be a problematic as there were a lot of sub-plots competing with each other for attention. Each of the stories were compelling though and the action virtually non-stop. A kid and a dinosaur are kidnapped by the inevitable evil corporation which is also seeding bird sized locust herds on the planet, just in case the kidnapping wasn’t evil enough. The dinosaurs have evolved in the CGI world to where they’re not the stop and admire screen presence they used to be. They’re characters in themselves. My only reservation was the seeming acceptance of these apex predators as a normal part of life after the last movie. They kind of wish away what the real-world impact would be, I’m thinking helicopter gunships, but with the the Jurassic movies you forgive a lot. It is what it is supposed to be, a big, gnarly, epic sized, popcorn, summer movie, in all its glory. A great send off to the series.

MVP: Dern strikes the perfect note as returning icon Dr Sadler

Jungle Cruise

Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti

Rating: 8 out of 10, I didn’t think there was a movie in the Disney ride, Jungle Cruise, but I was wrong. The film is almost workmanlike but it works because of the screen presence of the two stars. The Rock flexes through his role as an Amazon River boat captain with his usual swagger and likability. The true star of the movie though is Emily Blunt as a spirited turn of the 19th century British adventuress. There’s a couple of well-conceived surprises along the way as they contend with a Kaiser’s son in search of a mythical tree deep in Amazonia. The special effects and CGI are up to the usual Disney standard but the most engaging part of the movie is the continual banter between the two stars as they argue their way deeper into danger. I hadn’t expected to like this movie half as much as I did. I blame Ms. Blunt.

MVP: Blunt, of course, as Professor Pants

Bullet Train

Actors: Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, Sandra Bullock

Rating: 9 out of 10, This received a lot of hype and I was afraid it was going to be one of those movies that had a great trailer but failed to deliver. This delivers. In spades, thanks to an incredible cast led by Brad Pitt. He is incredibly funny as a luck bereft hitman tangling with an bevy of his peers while spouting Zen phrases as he deals with some personal worth issues. All this occurs while hurtling along on a high-speed Japanese train. The characters are slowly revealed as the action builds to a truly incredible climactic battle royale. Pitt dominates as he tries to get his fellow assassins to talk things out instead of killing him. There are a couple of hilarious cameos as well which is always fun. It’s so hyper violent that you’re almost guilty at laughing but it’s too funny. I loved this movie.

MVP: Pitt as Ladybug, the assassin in search of a hug

Morbius

Actors: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson

Rating: 6 out of 10, I was excited to see Morbius but I shouldn’t have been. This was Marvel Lite with a great concept, an interesting cast, and a terrible plot. A crippled doctor seeks a cure and accidently turned himself into a vampire. Enter the rich but flawed friend to take advantage of the situation while our bloodthirsty hero tries to avoid killing more people and simultaneously wooing his lady love. The first half of the movie really caught me but it sputtered and utterly failed in the last half. I felt it was one of those movies that could have been really special but somewhere or someone lost their way at a critical point.

MVP: Arjona as Dr Bancroft, hot and smart

The Batman

Actors: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell

Rating: 8 out of 10, is yet another in the seemingly endless series of caped crusader reboots and while the characters are old hat, this one takes you in a different direction. It doesn’t go into the cosmic level events of recent DC universe goings on. It’s basically a police procedural about the always morally challenged Gotham City and a pair of orphans. This is a new take on the Batman origin story and Pattinson really surprised me in the title role. I thought he was too metrosexual to sell the needed Y-chromosome aspects of the hero but he does it. He reminded me of the surprise Michael Keaton achieved when he was so effective despite the lack of physicality (at that time). Pattinson transforms from a waif-like Bruce Wayne into a supremely dangerous superhero. The movie is long but I hardly noticed the time because of the relentless pace. The rest of the cast was equally good especially Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano, who always plays an awesome psycho, as the Riddler. I also heard Colin Ferrell was in the movie but I never saw him. I checked afterwards and he played a major role as the Penguin but was unrecognizable underneath a veritable mountain of makeup. There were also some very subtle odes to the prior Batman incarnations that you’d have to be a real fan (guilty) to catch. I always love it when a series film reboot does that. So, at least for this film, the hype was redeemed. I loved the movie.

MVP: Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman

Uncharted

Actors: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, Antonio Banderas

Rating: 7 out of 10, Uncharted is a big hit but I was surprised by how shallow it turned out to be. It was as if the filmmakers tried to bring to life a love child between National Treasure and some sort of video game. The story made no sense and only served to move the film to the next set of very entertaining stunts. The movie is saved by Spidey as Tom Holland demonstrates real star power and effortlessly carries the film while a very generous Mark Wahlberg lets him do so. They make an interesting set of buddies. What made the National Treasure movies so good was keeping the plot, while wildly impossible, at least credible. That thought goes out early on in this movie but the very engaging cast rescues it and makes this movie at least very watchable, if a bit frustrating if you look beyond the stunts. But, hey, at least it was honest and didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t, a big dumb action flick, so, of course, I liked it.

MVP: Holland as Nathan Drake

Infinite

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Toby Jones, Dylan O'Brien

Rating: 7 out of 10, Infinite has a terrible reputation, its release a victim of the covid epidemic. It never made it to the theaters here in the US. I hadn’t heard anything about it until it appeared on a list of recent releases on Blu-ray. I really enjoyed the film which kept it’s high priced CGI effects intact. Mark Wahlberg was very effective as the central character being sought by two groups of competing immortals. They are immortal only because they retain perfect memories of prior lives. It was an interesting concept that  could have been fleshed out more but this was a nicely paced action movie that moved around the globe with interesting confrontations and action sequences. I heard it was nominated for a bunch of raspberries but this will go down as one of the movies critics dismiss but can be enjoyed by garden variety movie goers. Guilty. Good flick.

MVP: Mantzoukas as the crazed Artisan

Moonfall

Actors: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, Donald Sutherland

Rating: 7 out of 10, I am still trying to figure out how they made this outlandish concept work, but it does, does mainly through the efforts of a first rate cast and stunning special effects. Wilson plays a disgraced astronaut who’s fall from grace was actually a warning side that an evil entity was eventually going to crash the moon into the earth which might just leave a mark. He’s assisted by Samwell Tarly who plays a highly educated janitor who’s predicts the crash but is dismissed as a looney conspiracy theorist. Bradley (Sam’s alter ego) does a great job of straddling the seemingly nutjob janitor with a startling intellect and a touch of nobility. I won’t ruin the incredible surprise of why the moon is descending but that where the concept might have lost me if it wasn’t so well done. It was a crazy ride but a nice bit of pure escapism.

MVP: John Bradley as the seemingly crazed but noble janitor

Spacehunter Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Actors: stars Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson, Andrea Marcovicci, Michael Ironside

Rating: 6 out of 10, I bought this on a lark having vaguely remembered it as a typical 1980s sci fi flick trying to cash in on the Star Wars craze. You really had to have been around during that time to realize what a big deal that was. Strauss plays a fringe dwelling bounty hunter looking for a big score rescuing three ladies from the clutches of Overdog (I’m not kidding). Michael Ironside as a cyborg attached to some sort of gantry and brandishing oversized claws (it was the 80s). This hasn’t aged all that badly although the special effects are laughable by today’s standards. Ringwald is initially annoying but eventually grows on you as Wolff’s erstwhile partner. A nice ride through 1980s sci fi nostalgia.

MVP: Strauss as the embattled bounty hunter Wolff

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Actors: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire

Rating: 10 out of 10, It lives up to the Marvel standard which is lofty and cements Spiderman’s legacy in the Marvel Universe. It will also go down in movie history as the crossover event to end all crossovers. While the movie is excellent in its own right, with a tremendous amount of heart, the crossovers from prior versions of Spiderman were incredibly funny and in a couple of situations, painfully poignant. It will be hard to describe without revealing too many details but if you’ve seen the prior incarnations of Spiderman than you have to see this, just for a well made walk to memory lane. Tom Holland can be a bit annoying but it’s hard to not fall under his spell as a truly young Spiderman. He’s faced with his secret identity being outed by the last movie’s villain and that leads to some very funny moments. He teams up with Dr Strange, who predictably steals every scene he’s forced to deal with the teenagers in. Speaking of scene stealing, Zendaya is pitch perfect as MJ teaming up with Peter and Ned to thwart a veritable legion of reincarnated bad guys. There are some tough moments and it will be interesting to see where Marvel takes this character next but if this is Holland’s last turn, at least he went out on top. One of my favorite movies of the year.

MVP: Holland/Gafield/Maguire as three versions of Spidey, best cross over event ever

Ghostbusters Afterlife

Actors: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver

Rating: 9 out of 10, A lot of nostalgic fun as it went back to connect with the peerless first film. Egon’s grandchildren assume his role in protecting the world from old friend, Zuul; this time from an isolated midwestern farm. The movie captures a lot of the silly fun associated with the first film and the young female lead steals every scene she’s in as the nerdy granddaughter channeling her grandad’s oddity and genius. The rest of the cast is also on track with Paul Ruud in the Rick Moranis part more than up to the task. The final fifteen minutes is as satisfying a cinematic reunion time that I can remember. Loved the movie.

MVP: Mckenna Grace as Phoebe, Egon Clone

The King’s Man

Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, Charles Dance

Rating: 8 out of 10, I loved the first two Kingsman movies and all of Mathew Vaughn’s movies so far. That streak almost came to an end with this Kingsman prequel set during the First World War. I must have been in a bad mood on the first watch because it recovered nicely the second time. It didn’t have the trademark whimsical fun of the first movies until the climactic battle which was pure Kingsman. Ralph Fiennes does an admirable job of showing the Kingsmen origins as he fights through a tough father-son dynamic. The Rasputin section was decidedly weird but the duel was very Russian. More screen time for Gemma Atterton would have been a plus but she’s mostly wasted until that final confrontation. I didn’t love it but my expectations might have been too lofty. Still worth a watch.

MVP: Arterton as Polly, the first Galahad

The Matrix Resurrections

Actors: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Rating: 8 out of 10, The Matrix Resurrections is aptly titled, especially if you saw the original trilogy which ended with Neo dying rather spectacularly. Neo is back and he seems as confused about it as we are but the film does a fairly good job of explaining how that transpired. It also resurrects many of the other characters although most with new faces. While the original trilogy was a fight for humanity’s future this one is a love story as Neo is forcibly reawakened to pursue his lady love, Trinity. She doesn’t remember him and apparently is happily married with a family thriving in the reconstituted Matrix. Agent Smith is also back in a new body but still a complete a-hole. The movie does a superb job of taking the mythology of the original film and moving it forward sixty years but also giving some closure to that story. It had the usual Matrix special effect combat which were so groundbreaking at the time but it’s become fairly common over the years. It’s a still a good adventure yarn carried by the enduring chemistry between Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss.

MVP: Moss as Trinity emerges as the power

Eternals

Actors: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie.

Rating: 8 out of 10, This is a completely different kind of Marvel movie which I’m sure some people/critics will find fault with. It doesn’t have the same whiz bang relentless pace of its Marvel predecessors but it brings a lot of heart with it. I liked the time it took to lay out the complete mythology surrounding the Eternals, surely the best looking group of superheroes ever assembled (I mean two Kings of the North!). There are a lot of twists and turns as we follow the group of saviors, sent to preserve the human race, over thousands of years. The story is told with a heavy reliance on flashbacks which can be problematic if less well done. I was really impressed with the story arc and the care told in telling the story. There were the usual state of the art special effects and sly humor laced throughout so I didn’t mind sitting through the very long movie. Another feather in Marvel’s cap as they choose to evolve instead of following the same well worn and highly successful path.

MVP: Nanjani as Kingo, the Bollywood eternal

Saturn 3

Actors: Farrah Fawcett, Kirk Douglas, Harvey Keitel

Rating: 7 out of 10, This was always kind of a mess but for some reason held a special place in my heart and not just because of Fawcett’s brief nude scene. She plays a bio-engineer (and they said she couldn’t act) along with her paramour, an aged Kirk Douglas. Their idyllic life on a barren moon is threatened by a psychotic Harvey Keitel (is there any other version?). This has held up well over the years despite its many flaws and miscasting. Keitel’s berserk robot adds a nice bit of terror as the good guys run around trying to destroy him. A guilty pleasure, but a lot of campy fun with a high degree of unintentional comedy.

MVP: Fawcett reminding us why she was such a phenomena

Sword and the Sorcerer

Actors: Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, George Maharis, Richard Lynch, Richard Moll

Rating: 8 out of 10, Finally. This beloved film from my younger years finally came out in Blu-ray format and as most things from the early 1980s (myself included) it hasn’t aged well. You have to leave your mind at the door when it starts and if you do that, it’s a hell of a lot of swashbuckling fun. Horsley makes a very compelling hero which begs the question as to why he didn’t do more. The same for Beller who is radiant as the crotch crunching (see the movie to understand) princess. I still loved it despite the more than evident issues. I mean, any film with a triple bladed sling sword and Bull from Night Court tearing up scenes as a wicked sorcerer. What’s not to like?

MVP: Horsley as the dangerous Talon

No Time to Die

Actors: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Rory Kinnear, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen, Ana de Armas, David Dencik, Dali Benssalah

Rating: 10 out of 10, Everyone knows this is Daniel Craig’s last foray as James Bond and it was a well-earned, epic send off. Craig’s Bond was always told on a more personal level and this final movie completes the arc that started with Casino Royale. Bond is led to question everyone in his life as he moves around the globe trying to unravel an insidious plot involving old friend Blofeld as well as his lady love. It is a very good story and I hardly noticed the nearly three hour running time because, in typical 007 fashion, you literally are only a heartbeat away from the next stunning action sequence. It does raise the interesting question about how many times a guy can get nearly blown up without becoming a vegetable. I know we’re talking James Bond here but it’s good this was his last movie because we’re talking mouth drooling PTSD if not. There are some kick ass ladies who no longer serve as just window dressing in Bond movies. They are led by Ana De Armas who’s only on screen for a short time but dominates. Every plot thread from Craig’s story line is neatly and usually fatally tied off and there are some genuinely poignant odes to earlier movies, including predating Craig’s tenure. The only downer and it wasn’t a big one was the villain. Rami Malek plays the reptilian megalomaniac with too much nuance, if that’s even possible. He gets kind of lost in the maelstrom of action and explosions as the movie careens towards the inevitable good bye. A great movie bringing all you expect from a Bond movie, raising the level and injecting more heart than has ever been permitted.

MVP: Craig in his swan song as 007, well done

Venom Let There be Carnage

Actors: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Woody Harrelson

Rating: 7 out of 10, I loved the first Venom movie so this was going to be a tough follow up but it manages to capture a lot of the fun from the original. This is a tribute to Tom Hardy who once again portrays the semi-hero occupied by a carnivorous alien. The funniest moments were the couples therapy the two go through as they adjust to life together. Woody Harrelson is his usual spooky self as the serial killer who gets his own alien occupier, setting up a huge climatic fight between the four of them. This wasn’t as good as the original but still plenty of fun and dare I say, carnage.

MVP: Hardy as both Eddie Brock and Venom – too funny/dangerous

Copshop

Actors: Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder

Rating: 8 out of 10, I wasn’t sure what to think about Copland before seeing the movie, obviously. I went to see it mainly because it starred Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo who are reliable action stars. I wasn’t prepared for a complete unknown (to me) to steal every scene she was in, including from the two main stars. Alexis Louder was the only remotely redeemable character in the entire movie. She plays a young African American sheriff’s deputy in rural Nevada. She arrests a mysterious, wounded man who punches her (Grillo) which sets off a serious assault on her isolated police department. Butler shows up as an infamous hitman sent to off Grillo before he can talk. They are soon besieged by an array of competing hitman and dirty cops. The banter, especially between Butler and Grillo, is worth the price of admission. Butler has the best lines, including, “Now that’s a psychopath”, when competing (and hilarious unhinged) hitman Toby Huss shows up. Again though, Louder more than holds her own against the heavyweights and you can’t help but rooting for her to survive against long odds. So, a real surprise and one of the better movies I’ve seen in a while.

MVP: Louder as Val, the seriously undergunned but resilient deputy

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Actors: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung

Rating: 9 out of 10, I was a little leery going into this figuring it might be overly Asian-centric and overdoing political correctness. I shouldn’t have worried as this turned out to be the best movie I’ve seen so far this year, exceeding even Marvel’s usual lofty standards. A great deal of the credit goes to the cast who were prefect, charismatic and connective with the audience. The lead actor, Simu Liu, was very impressive both in the incredible physical requirements, which literally comes from nowhere, very suddenly, as well as the deep emotions the part required. Awkwafina is along bringing her usual quirky humor but she proves she can do so much more. It was an interesting, multilayered plot laden with Marvel’s usual state of the art special effects. A very complex family story where the two mildly super-human parents produce two very special children, a boy and a girl. The boy, as an adult, is hiding out in San Francisco, the very best place for a monumental car chase, which happens very early. He is drawn back to China for a confrontation with his father with the fate of the world in the balance (this is Marvel after all). I loved the movie and very early I forgot it was Asian focused, the story and the actors won me over utterly, much in the same fashion as Black Panther did for African-Americans. Good is good and this was better.

MVP: Liu as the title character, kicking ass and taking names