Kung Fu Panda 3

Year: 2016

Director: Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh

Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Bryan Cranston, J.K. Simmons, and James Hong
Tagline: The weight is over
Synopsis: In order to defeat a new threat, Po must discover who he really is: as a panda, as a teacher, and as the Dragon Warrior.

Review

How many times can a pudgy panda save China?  Well, at least three times it would seem.  And how many times should you watch said pudgy panda save China?  All three times.

This third installment of the franchise is new in some respects but also very familiar at the same time.  A new danger threatens the valley and the only hope is for Po to learn some new lesson in order to defeat the villain.  It's a tried and true formula for these movies, and it works here.  The film also furthers the story line of Po's heritage, as we find his father and a hidden valley of pandas.

As with the other two movies, Kung Fu Panda 3 is beautifully animated with all sorts of vibrant colors.  There is also a fun blend of 2D animation from time to time.  If nothing else, the film is eye candy.  Also, in keeping with its predecessors, the music is beautiful.  And with the spirit world return of Master Oogway, we get to hear his beautiful theme a few times.

All the usual humor is also in place.  Po is his typical ever-hungry, stair-hating, geeking-out self.  The Furious Five lend humor to every scene they are in (and I wish they might have been in more scenes).  And Shifu is as lovably droll as ever.

Much of the heart of the story lies in the initially strained relationship between Li and Mr. Ping, Po's biological and adoptive fathers.  In a world of talking animals, jade monsters, and kung fu master chickens, there's something down to earth about their interactions as they try to figure out their new roles in Po's life.

My only disappointment with the film was Tigress.  She had such good character development in the second installment.  This go round she doesn't have as much to do besides support Po.  Alas.

I was impressed with how well Po's lesson for the film worked.  It resonated with me even.  In his quest to discover who he is, Po gets fixated on one aspect or another.  His breakthrough is as he realizes he is all those things.  Combined, they make him who he truly is.  His quest isn't to become just like Master Oogway or Master Shifu.  His quest is to become the best Po he can be.  And that is a worthwhile lesson we could all stand to be reminded of.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 3.  It is beautifully animated and has humor and heart.  While the story is familiar, it also brings the story of Po full circle and is a worthy sequel.  If you've liked Po's previous adventures, you'll likely enjoy this most recent outing.

Quotable Quotes

• "We learned that Tigress is flammable." -- Crane
• "If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than what you are." -- Shifu
• "Never underestimate the power of a dramatic entrance." -- Po
• "Your son got angry at you.  Welcome to parenthood." -- Mr. Ping to Li

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Year: 2015

Director: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, and BB-8
Tagline: Every generation has a story.
Synopsis: Thirty years after the Empire's destruction, new heroes and new villains battle in a galaxy far, far away.

Review

It's taken me a while to get to this post, so long that The Force Awakens has had time to become the highest grossing film ever in the United States.  The Force is strong with this one.

Considering that most people have seen it already, or seen it twice already, I'm not going to bother with a spoiler section.  This whole thing will contain spoilers.  So if you haven't seen the film yet, please stop reading.  Seriously.  Stop.  If you've ever enjoyed a Star Wars movie go see this one.  And then come back and let's compare notes, so to speak.

Are we good now?  Let's proceed.

To borrow a meme, this is the Star Wars you are looking for.  It looks like Star Wars: there are familiar faces, familiar ships, familiar motifs, and familiar practical effects.  It sounds like Star Wars: welcome back John Williams with the latest installment of one of the best soundtracks ever.  But most importantly, it feels like Star Wars.  It feels serious one minute, humorous the next, and epic throughout.  The Force Awakens is a thoroughly enjoyable film.

That said, the film is not without its flaws.

It is one thing to be nostalgic and hark back to what made the original trilogy so compelling.  And I'm all in favor of the idea of having new stories that echo the past and characters that walk -- purposefully or otherwise -- in a way that shadows previous characters.  But when it came down to the Starkiller Base destroying a planet and in turn being destroyed ... it was just too similar to A New Hope.  It needed a different climax than that to be its own story.

There are also some holes in the story.  Granted, maybe some of them were on purpose and will find resolution in the next episode.  But it seems highly improbable that someone like Captain Phasma would just give up and lower the shields because Finn and Han Solo held a gun to her.  And Maz Kanata ... she seems important, until she no longer has anything to do.  Then poof, she drops out of the story.  We don't even definitively know she survived the stormtrooper attack.  She comes.  She delivers important exposition and plot devices.  She vanishes.

Enough of that.  Let's get back to why the film is terrific, albeit imperfect.

As a fan of the original trilogy, seeing Han and Chewie return "home" to the Millenium Falcon and watching them in their old roguish ways was a whole lot of nostalgic fun.  The new characters were good and all, but it was seeing the "scruffy looking nerf-herder" and "walking carpet" that made the film so enjoyable.  They brought the heart and fun of the originals with them.  That, of course, gives greater impact to Han's death.  Yes, it seemed somewhat inevitable given Kylo Ren's desire to complete his passage to the Dark Side.  And once Han stepped on that bridge, he was a goner.  But it was still sad to see the coolest Star Wars character go down in such a soul-wrenching way.

Of the new character additions, BB-8 is hands down my favorite.  I didn't think R2-D2 could be rivaled for role of awesome/adorable robot, but the rolling BB-8 gives it his all.  He's quirky, fun, and surprisingly practical ... as fictional droids go.  He wins the award for best "thumbs up" in a feature film.

One of my favorite elements of The Force Awakens is the humanization of the stormtroopers.  They are no longer cannon fodder clones with poor aim.  We've learned they are (or at least some are) taken from their families at birth.  They are given numbers not names.  They are raised to be soldiers and nothing more.  We start the film with the death of a stormtrooper that is clearly meaningful, at least to the shell-shocked Finn.  We see stormtroopers with well-honed fighting skills (making General Hux proud).  But my favorite part in the entire movie is when two stormtroopers turn a corner, hear Kylo Ren having a lightsaber-wielding temper tantrum, and quickly turn back the other way.  It's funny.  And it shows that there are real people (brainwashed people, but people) beneath those helmets.

Which just leaves Kylo Ren.  While he's not as instantly epic-cool like Darth Vader, he's a very intriguing villain.  I know enough about the "extended universe" to not be the least bit surprised that Kylo Ren is the son of Han and Leia.  And I'm glad they didn't belabor that reveal.  You can't top "No, I am your father," so don't try.  What makes Ren so interesting is that he is under construction as it were.  He's a tortured soul.  And when he takes off the helmet, you realize he's still so young.  This isn't the mature Darth Vader who calmly Force chokes people.  This guy has temper tantrums and is as volatile as his jagged lightsaber.  He's obsessed with being strong, or at least Snoke's ideal of strong.  I look forward to seeing more of Kylo Ren.

The film does a good job leaving the audience guessing and wanting more.  There are enough clues dropped throughout to leave lots to speculation.  Who is Rey?  Is she a Solo (doubtful)?  A Skywalker (possibly)?  A Kenobi (intriguing)?  Who is Snoke and how did he rise to power?  What really caused R2-D2 to "awake" with such perfect timing?  What happened to C3PO's arm?  How did that old guy get the portion of the map to Luke's whereabouts?  How did Maz Kanata get Luke's lightsaber?  Will we ever see General Leia confront her son?

Through it all, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an entertaining film.  It's fun.  I look forward to seeing it again.  And I look forward to Episode VIII.

Quotable Quotes

• "Chewie, we're home." -- Han Solo
• "Why are you helping me?" "Because it's the right thing to do." "... You need a pilot." "I need a pilot." -- Poe Dameron and Finn
• "I've got a bad feeling about this." -- Han Solo
• "And I'll drop my weapon." -- Stormtrooper
• "It's true.  All of it.  The Dark Side.  The Jedi.  They're real." -- Han Solo

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Creed

Year: 2015

Director: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Tony Bellew, and Phylicia Rashad
Tagline: Your legacy is more than a name.
Synopsis: Adonis Johnson, son of famed boxer Apollo Creed, enlists Rocky Balboa to train him to follow in his father's footsteps.

Review

If you saw the title of this film and wondered what on earth it was, Creed is the seventh entry in the Rocky franchise.  This time, instead of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) being inside the ring, he is on the outside, training a new hopeful.  That new hopeful just so happens to be the (illegitimate) son of Apollo Creed, Rocky's former opponent turned trainer/friend.  As the unknown son of a famed boxer, Adonis feels the need to prove himself, to prove that he is his own man.

Creed is every ounce a Rocky film.  It mostly takes place in Philadelphia, Rocky's hometown.  There's the usual underdog story.  There's the requisite training montages.  There's the fitting doses of humor, heart, and humanity.  Rocky even still has a pet turtle.

The film is certainly nostalgic, hearkening back to the original Rocky on numerous occasions.  (It may reference the other films as well, but I'm only familiar with the first Rocky).  The filmmakers understood what made the first film so endearing and enduring and decided if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  It's a tactic that works for the story.  Adonis is following in his father's footsteps while also trying to be his own man.  The film follows the same path.

At this point I should probably confess that Creed is not the type of film I would normally see.  I saw it with my division at work.  While I didn't vote for it, I was also not opposed to seeing it.  It did get very good reviews after all.  I think nearly all my coworkers (male and female) enjoyed the movie.  As for me ... I was completely bored and checking my watch.  The only character that was remotely intriguing to me was Mary Anne Creed, Apollo's widow and Adonis' adoptive mother.  Her part was minimal and underused.  As for Adonis, I simply don't know how to cheer for a character whose dream/ambition is to beat another human being into submission.

Creed is a good film.  I'll give it that.  It's nostalgic and well-crafted.  If you like sports films in general or Rocky films in particular, then you will likely enjoy Creed.

*** Spoiler Section ***

How to end the film was probably a quandary.  With this kind of film, you couldn't have the hero simply lose.  That's not how Rocky movies play out.  But it would have been a stretch to have Adonis win against such a formidable opponent.  That leaves the "split decision" loss where he loses the fight but "wins the night."  It worked for the original Rocky and it works for Creed, but it does feel a little bit like a copy/paste.

Quotable Quotes

• "Time takes everybody out.  Time's undefeated." -- Rocky
• "I fight.  You fight." -- Adonis to Rocky
• "How many fingers" [Rocky taps the number on Adonis' neck] "Four." -- Fight official and Adonis

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Merry Christmas: Dashing through the Season

There's no movie review here, just a Christmas message:

It’s Christmastime.  And with it comes a season filled with decking the halls, “dashing through the snow,” “rockin’ around the Christmas tree,” and “shoppers rush[ing] home with their treasures.”  There’s always so much to do, so much to buy, and so much to eat.  Sure, “it hasn’t snowed a single flurry.  But Santa, dear, we’re in a hurry.”  To cram everything into the season requires a lot of hustling and bustling, and – as the 25th draws ever closer – hurrying and scurrying.  “There’ll be parties for hosting” and “much mistletoeing” and a great deal of hoping “Santa Baby” would just “hurry down the chimney tonight.”

Even Frosty is in a hurry, “running here and there ... sayin’ ‘Catch me if you can.’” Who has time to catch their breath, let alone a snowman?  There are gifts to wrap, cookies to bake, messages to write, service projects to organize, dinners to prepare, musical numbers to practice, choir programs to rehearse, and a myriad of traditions to keep.  Hurry as the hours and days slip away.  But as we hurry about our many good things, let us first remember to make haste to that which is best.  In the words of the final verse of “Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?”:

Bethlehem! There in manger lying, find your Redeemer, haste away.

Run ye with eager footsteps vieing! Worship the Savior, born this day.

Bethlehem! There in manger lying, find your Redeemer, haste away.

The shepherds of old knew the right order of things.  They first received the glad tidings, then they “came with haste” to the newborn Savior.  With Christ in their hearts and praises on their lips, then they returned to their lives, their friends, and their families, sharing the gift.

And somewhere, amid all our hurrying and hastening, may we also find a moment to do as Mary, who “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart”  (Luke 2:19).

Merry Christmas!

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The Good Dinosaur

Year: 2015

Director: Peter Sohn

Starring: Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Sam Elliott, and Steve Zahn
Synopsis: In a world where dinosaurs never went extinct, one dinosaur must discover what he's made of while making an unlikely friendship.

Review

First off: like all Pixar film's, there was a short to begin with.  This one was entitled Sanjay's Super Team and was based on the experiences of Sanjay Patel, who directed it.  As is to be expected, the animation was gorgeous and colorful.  But it was the message of the short that was so compelling.

The story is of a little boy, Sanjay, who wants to watch a superhero cartoon show.  His father comes in, turns off the television, and invites his son to join him in Hindu meditation.  Sanjay's reluctance gives way to an exciting daydream with Vishnu, Durga, and Hanuman becoming the heroes.  In the end, Sanjay finds meaning in his father's traditions and religion and the two are able to bond.  What also stood out to me is that children often understand more than parents give them credit.

On to the feature film.

The Good Dinosaur builds on the premise of what would happen if the dinosaurs had never gone extinct.  There are lots of directions you could take a story like that.  Perhaps that is why the film had all sorts of production issues and even had a change in director partway through.  Sadly, the film suffers some for that.  It's a good movie.  But I was disappointed it wasn't a great movie.  It could have done so much more.

The story is likable, about young, fearful Arlo who wants very much to prove himself.  There is much that is familiar about The Good Dinosaur: there's some Finding Nemo in it and quite a bit of The Lion King.  It's also a classic boy and his pet story.  It just so happens that the boy is a dinosaur and the "pet" is a feral human.  It's an interesting twist.  And the bond Arlo and Spot develop helps drive the story onward.

The humor of the film is different from most Pixar films.  The part that made me laugh the hardest was Forrest Woodbush, the "pet collector."  He has some great comedic timing and is simply a fun character I'd have liked to have seen more of.  Some of the other humor was more low brow than my taste, but it wasn't excessive.  It didn't bother me, I just don't find that type of thing as funny.  The film was also a bit darker in places.  It might be scary for young audiences.  There are predators and they do what predators do.

While the story may not be groundbreaking, the animation in The Good Dinosaur is.  The film is gorgeous. The setting for the story is the area around the Tetons, which is beautiful scenery to begin with.  The way the filmmakers have captured and rendered the landscape is simply incredible.  There were times when the scenery was so good, the water so perfect, that it pulled me out of the story for a moment.  This was also Pixar's first film to render clouds, rather than "paint" them on to the sets.  The dinosaurs themselves certainly look animated.  But the world they live in is big, detailed, and more realistic than I've seen in any other animated film.

I enjoyed The Good Dinosaur.  It is beautifully animated and has humor and heart.  In the Pixar pantheon, I'd put it just below Brave (which had similar story struggles).  While it has its flaws and weaknesses, it is a movie with heart and a good message about overcoming fear.  It may not be great, but The Good Dinosaur is still good.

Quotable Quotes

• "If you ain't scared, you ain't alive." -- Butch
• "This is Debbie ..." -- Forrest Woodbush
• "He'll make his mark, you'll see." -- Poppa

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Year: 2015

Director: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and Sam Claflin
Tagline: The fire will burn forever
Synopsis: As the rebels march on the Capitol, Katniss and a small squad steal forward with one mission in mind: kill President Snow.

Review

Do you ever eat something that tastes good in the moment but then leaves a bitter aftertaste?  That's how Mockingjay Part 2 was for me.

At this point, if you've seen the other movies, you're going to see Mockingjay Part 2, if you haven't already.  If you haven't seen the other movies, you shouldn't start here.  This is very much a part 2 and makes no sense without part 1.  It really doesn't even make much sense without the other movies as well.  It's all one story.

The trouble is, it's not a story I like.  It's grim; from Hunger Games to Mockingjay, it is a grim world and a grim story.  In terms of the films (I haven't read the books) this is the grimmest of the four.  Aside from the epilogue, there's only one point in the film that is hopeful: Finnick and Annie's wedding.  Even that is brought down by Katniss' angst.  Shouldn't that liveliness, that hope for the future be played up more?  Isn't that what everyone is ultimately fighting for: a return to joy and living, rather than war and survival?

To make a story truly epic, you pit good versus evil, where good sacrifices and falls but ultimately triumphs over evil.  This isn't good versus evil.  It's more right versus wrong or (some form of) justice versus tyranny.  The trouble with Mockingjay Part 2 is that it is all about defeating tyranny, getting revenge on Snow, and toppling the Capitol.  It takes the overcoming evil part but uncouples it from the triumph of good.  The good characters either die, are tainted, or are sidelined.  Katniss' final speech rings hollow.  She says she counts the good things people did.  By the time I left the theater I was trying to remember any of those moments.  They weren't emphasized or recollected.  Even if she had just listed a few examples, it would have helped.

In addition to being grim, the movie was slow.  It felt like the film simmered and simmered, but when the time came for a rolling boil ... it simmered then splashed and then simmered its way to the end.

As a film, it was well-made.  The production values were top-notch as ever and the actors did a great job, especially Josh Hutcherson as the tormented Peeta.  The music was good, but mostly in that it echoed a powerful scene from Mockingjay Part 1.

Put simply Mockingjay Part 2 was a good movie.  I'll give it that.  But it wasn't a great movie.  Compared to its predecessor Catching Fire, it was a fizzle.  I had expected more from the Girl on Fire.

*** Spoiler Section ***

A lot of characters die in these books/films.  That's not a spoiler.  Plenty of characters, including main characters die in Mockingjay.  Boggs' death is sad.  It felt like the film handled it well.  Finnick's death is tragic (of all the characters, I found him most intriguing and likable).  I prefer how he dies in the film to how I know he dies in the book.  Still, part of me would have liked a little more closure with his death.

But the death that felt robbed of its power was Prim's.  In the film, the aftermath is all about Katniss' grief for her sister.  She's understandably upset.  But it felt all about Katniss and less about Prim and what she stood for individually and symbolically.  Prim is why Katniss volunteered in the first place.  Prim is the embodiment of everything good worth fighting for in Panem.  That Coin's Machiavellian tactic to end the war killed Prim is hugely symbolic.  For me, the film portrayed it as another death and another reason for Katniss to be angry and move the story forward.

Maybe it's because she didn't get much screen time in Part 2, but Prim's death didn't have any emotional impact.  She was just one more death in a grim movie filled with deaths.  Yes, I knew she was going to die.  But I also knew Dobby and Dumbledore were going to die; that didn't stop those deaths from hitting me in the feels when I watched Harry Potter.

Quotable Quotes

• "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 76th Hunger Games." -- Finnick Odair
• "Miss Everdeen, I thought we agreed never to lie to one another." -- President Snow to Katniss
• "Mockingjay, may your aim be as true as your heart is pure." -- President Coin
• "You always have to make everything difficult." -- Haymitch to Katniss

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The Peanuts Movie

Year: 2015

Director: Steve Martino

Starring: Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez, Alexander Garfin, Hadley Belle Miller, and Mariel Sheets
Tagline: The story of an underdog.  And his dog.
Synopsis: Charlie Brown tries to impress the Little Red-Haired Girl while Snoopy does battle with his nemesis, the Red Baron.

Review

Like many, I grew up always knowing who Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy were.  The holiday season included watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and of course, A Charlie Brown Christmas.  When I saw that there would be a new movie starring the Peanuts gang, I was nervous how a wonderful element of my childhood would be treated.  Have no fear.  Charles Schulz might well have personally handed the filmmakers a box with all his comic strips labelled "Handle with Care," for that is how the movie was made.  It helped that Schulz's son and grandson were the writers.

There's a line in The Incredibles: "There's no school like the old school."  The Peanuts Movie is an old school treasure.  This isn't a slick, modernized Charlie Brown shoehorned into 21st century pop culture.  Watching the film was a 90-minute helping of nostalgia.  Charlie Brown still has a rotary phone (and gets tangled in the cord).  Lucy still charges a nickle for her psychiatric counsel.  Snoopy still taps out his novel on a typewriter.  And it is a world where all the neighborhood kids get together to play baseball, go ice skating, or fly kites.

Peanuts is also (relatively) free from gimmicks.  Bucking the celebrity voice trend, all the kids are voiced by actual kids.  The biggest celebrity in the cast list is Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda from the original Broadway cast of Wicked) as Fifi, Snoopy's love interest.  And she doesn't even have dialogue.  Just like Snoopy, she is limited to conversation-like sounds.  Speaking of the famed Beagle, he and pal Woodstock are both voiced by Bill Melendez, who voiced them in the original TV specials.  The filmmakers used archived voice recordings to have Melendez bring Snoopy to life once more.  Oh, and if you are wondering, all adults in the film are "voiced" by a trombone, just as they should be.

The only touch of modernization was in the form of a few pop songs worked into the story.  Even that was low key.  Most of the music is the familiar melodies kids like me grew up with, including the inimitable "Linus and Lucy" theme.

One of the elements that made me, and others, nervous about Peanuts was the animation style.  How do you take something as fundamentally two-dimensional as a comic strip and make it using modern 3D computer animation?  Very carefully and lovingly.  And it works.  The artists were painstakingly faithful to the pencil sketch source material.  Though made in a computer, there's still a hand drawn feel to the film.  There are even some two-dimensional elements woven in as part of the style.  The result is something beautiful, both familiar and new, like a classic car that has been dusted off, fine-tuned, and given a fresh coat of shiny paint.

Peanuts is about as kid friendly a movie as I know of.  It is rated G.  Yes, G.  The Peanuts gang are as clean, wholesome, and fun as the TV specials and comic strips.  There was not a crass or boorish joke to be found (although there were plenty in the movie trailers that preceded the film).  There were no adult jokes slipped in.  The only things that will go over little kids' heads are who the Red Baron is and why the telephone has a cord attached.

If all the above were not enough reason to see The Peanuts Movie, see it for its good message.  Charlie Brown is an everyman.  He's not a "winner" in the worldly sense.  His baseball team never wins.  His kite never soars.  And he can never kick the football.  Time and time again he gets knocked down by life.  And yet he always gets back up, dusts himself off, and tries again.  He perseveres.  Throughout the story, he demonstrates the truthfulness of the Broadway play's title: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  He is good.  And being good is better than being a "winner."

I completely enjoyed The Peanuts Movie.  Did I mention it's funny?  Because it is really funny.  I think there was a grin on my face the entire film.  If you love Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang, do yourself a favor and check out The Peanuts Movie.  And stay through the comics-strewn credits for one final chuckle.

Quotable Quotes

• "It was a dark and stormy night ... " -- Snoopy's novel
• "Good grief." -- Charlie Brown
• "I can't afford a mortgage!  What if I'm put into escrow?" -- Charlie Brown
• "Wah wah-wah." -- All adults

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