Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Minions: The Rise of Gru

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First of all, I am a Minions fan.  They are cute, lovable, yellow, banana lovin’ and loyal.  Their gibberish, as well as their antics, always put a smile on my face.  That being said, I didn’t like this one as well as the past Minions movies.  At first I couldn’t understand what the problem was.  They are still entertaining and the movie contains a few hilarious moments (especially on a plane) involving those cute yellow-skinned rascals!  And then I had an epiphany!  It is the Minions that make the movie.  Every time the movie was about Gru, I felt my interest wavering.  The scenes with Gru were not funny (to me anyway) and I kept on waiting for the Minions to reappear.  The Gru of Despicable Me (which I loved) is just not the same without Agnes and her siblings.  This younger, awkward, Gru comes across as just plain tedious.  So if you ignore the scenes about Gru, you may end up enjoying this movie.

Toy Story 4

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Toy Story 4 is everything you want in a Toy Story movie.  Of course, Sheriff Woody (so endearingly voiced by Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (enthusiastic Tim Allen) are back.  So are the usual gang, Bo Peep, Jessie, Hamm, Rex, Slinky and The Potato Heads just to name a few.  The new characters introduced, really too many to mention, are all well-acted and well-animated for that matter.  One of the standouts is Forky, as voiced by Tony Hale, who thinks he is trash but learns to accept his destiny as a toy.  The other standout characters are  Ducky and Bunny as voiced by the hilarious Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.  The story is funny, heart-warming, has an unexpected twist, and even brings a tear to your eye at the end.  Add in music by Randy Newman and you have a movie that people just can’t complain about.  Everyone will enjoy.  I brought my 82 year old Mother who had never seen the other ones and she loved it!  Kudos to everyone involved to create a movie that everyone can go to and still enjoy!

Isle of Dogs

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Do you like quirky movies? Do you enjoy stop-motion animation?  Do you long for movies that are so original that you can’t quite guess where they are going?  Well, me too!  That is why I enjoy movies written and directed by Wes Anderson.  “Isle of Dogs” has a simple premise.  It is about 20 years in the future and an outbreak of canine flu has caused the Mayor (whose family has a long history of anti-dog activities!) to exile all of the dogs of  Megasaki to an island reserved for trash.  Atari, a young boy who is his ward, flies to the island to rescue his dog, Spots.  Once there, he is joined by a pack of abandoned dogs, who have interesting stories, and who decide to help him find his dog.  Unusual hijinks follow, which include uncovering a government conspiracy, robotic bloodhounds, cannibal dogs, and incredilble cricus-like tricks.  The dogs come across as very realistic, as if they are behaving just like you would expect them to if they could talk.  It doesn’t hurt that they are voiced by the likes of Bill Murray, Brian Cranston and Edward Norton, just to name a few.  Many people may be tempted to bring kids to see this. but I wouldn’t recomend it.  Not because it is scary or violent, but the themes may be difficult to understand. The action is slow, but there are plenty of visuals to delight and most of the dialogue is witty and droll.  If you enjoyed “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” I think you will enjoy this cute, bizarre and creative little movie.

Despicable Me 3

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You have to know this about me before you continue reading this review. I LOVE the Minions.  They are adorable and crack me up.  I guess  you could say these movies are my guilty pleasure.  Going into an animated movie that is made for kids when you are an adult means you have to leave all cynicism behind and just enjoy the silliness.  That being said, I found this latest installment very uneven.  The Minions are not featured in this one as much as they should be and their antics bring much needed comic relief to another wise pretty pedestrian movie.  There is a subplot about unicorns that I felt could have been edited out, but I am sure it will appeal to a lot of young girls.  I didn’t enjoy seeing Steve Carell’s Dru going “nice” so to speak.  Part of his charm is that he is, well, despicable.  Trey Parker voices the villain of the movie, Balthazar Bratt, who is truly annoying, but does  listen to an enjoyable array of retro music.  If you like the Minions, or have kids who do, I would still go see this movie.  Despite its faults, it does have Minions and that makes the whole movie worth it in my opinion.