Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Tomb Raider

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You might expect a movie called Tomb Raider to have characters who spend a great deal of time robbing or at least looking into ancient tombs of some kind.  Unforunately, in this case you would be very wrong!  Tomb Raider plods on for 1 1/2 hours before we ever see the inside of a tomb.  Up until that point, Oscar winning actress Alicia Vikander, as Lara Kroft, spends an excrusiately long time seting up the story.  Nothing much happens until she FINALLY gets to the forgotten island of Yamatai and finds her long lost father, who had disappeared when she was a child, chasing a rather lame legend about a terrifying Japanese goddess imprisoned in the tomb.  Here she does have some exciting adventures, uses her boxing skills to get beat up a lot, runs like a demon and solves a few puzzles.  She does free a bunch of shanghaied sailors, forced to dig for the tomb, but they don’t really figure much in the story, which is resolved in a rather unrealisitc fashion. I thought Walton Goggins made a good, if somewhat stereotypical, villan and Dominc West was fine as her father.  I loved Daniel Wu as Laura’s traveling companion; he  was the most charismatic of them all.  I never saw the first Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, so I have no idea if this reboot is better or worse.  If I were you, I would go see Black Panther again, or better yet, wait for Infinity War – it should be out a theatre near you very soon!

A Wrinkle in Time

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I have been reading this book with my students on and off for almost thirty years.  I love it and so do the kids who read it with me.  I had high hopes for this movie, I wanted to like it so much and yet…….I really didn’t.  Madeleine L’Engle’s novel is a magical tale of Meg, an awkward teenager who joins a cosmic fight against the evil ‘It’ (decades before the Stephen King’s creepy clown), rescues her missing father and learns that she is worthy and loved.  The movie is visually stunning, but the joy and wonder have been completely sucked out.  The three figures who help her (they were once stars, who lost what made them stars in fighting ‘It’), are never referred to as such in the movie and are over-glamorized into fairy-ish figures with rather silly costumes and hairdos.  Where is the Mrs. Whatsit I fell in love with wearing those awkward scarves and mismatched socks?  What happened to Mrs. Who with her over-sized glasses making her look like an owl?  Her glasses now resemble a small, jeweled  lorgnette that she barely wears.  Everything is over explained as if the audience is not smart enough to understand the ideas that Ms. L’Engle never had to dumb down for her readers – the children and those who can read with a child-like appreciation.  Don’t even get me started on the visit to Camatzotz where the  terrifying conformity and peace that It claims to offer people is  only very briefly explored. The part of the book where Charles Wallace is left on Camatzotz and the return of a solitary Meg is completely left out, so that the subsequent rescue of her father and Charles Wallace in the film seem anti-climactic and confusing.   I will give the director kudos for offering a diverse cast and dazzling special effects (although the effects are limited in time and number), but they came at the cost of an interesting and magical story. I would recommend watching the 2003 version with three much better ladies playing the beloved Mrs’es.   I have a feeling that people who have never read the books might find this an okay movie, and a good one to take kids to see for the positive message, but it could have been a great movie.

Black Panther

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The Black Panther is the King and protector of the African Kingdom of Wakanda.  Wakanda is a technologically advanced and wealthy country that no one knows about; they use their advanced technology to keep their kingdom hidden from the world.  T’Challa (played in true regal form by Chadwick Boseman) becomes king following the death of  his father.  In the kingdom of Wakanda though, the king must fight any challenger before he is crowned.  Once he does so, he must drink the juice of a special flower that gives him the super powers that enable him to protect his kingdom.  Wakanda itself, is dazzling.  A beautiful African country full of sophisticated  3D phones and bullet- fast and efficient transportation.  The serenity and peace of this tranquil land is shattered by Ulysess Klaue (played with delicious evil by Andy Serkis), who sneaks into the kingdom to steal the precious metal vibranium, which is a seemingly magical metal only found in Wakanda. It all leads to a lot of superbly choreographed and exciting action, wonderful effects and some well played and emotional drama.  T’Challa has a cool costume, some really badass warrior women guards and a sister who reminds me of James Bond’s Q concocting some very state of the art weapons.  When an unexpected new enemy emerges, T’Challa faces some tough decisions;  should Wakanda use it’s advanced technology to help man-kind or should they remain isolated and hidden from the world?  You will want to know the answer! I loved this movie for the beautiful scenery, great direction. wonderful performances and a hopeful message for the future.

The Shape of Water

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Lonely Elisa, a mute janitor, works in a high-security government lab whose purposes are some what sketchy.  Sally Hawkins is so expressive as  Elisa that I almost forgot that she never speaks, her acting is that good.  Elisa discovers that  an unusual creature has been captured and is being secretly housed, and cruelly experimented on.  Because she is mute, and the creature can not  speak, they communicate on a different level, and they form a bond that eventually turns into love.  This heartwarming story is sort of a cross between Beauty and the Beast and X-Files.  There are powerful supporting roles wonderfully accomplished by Octavia Spencer and Michael Shannon.   And a final flourish – Richard Jenkins is unforgettable as Elisa’s gay neighbor who overcomes a feeling of inferiority to take up the challenge of helping Elisa rescue her “Monster.”  I admit, I had  a few tears at the end, but director Guillermo del Toro’s wonderful directing never makes the movie seem sentimental or fake.  I highly recommend this very grown-up and compelling movie to all lovers of unusual fantasy.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

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Are you a fan of the Star Wars movies?  You can bet I am and I was eager and excited to see this latest installment.  All the characters we loved from the last installment like Rey, Poe, Finn BB-8,  and Kylo Ren, are back as well as old favorites like Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, R2D2, and C3PO.  What a cast! This movie also boasts a great script, spot on direction and wonderful and sweeping scenery.  In a nutshell:  The Last Jedi has everything I want to see in a Star Wars movie.  If you are like me, someone who loves and watches tons of movies, it is hard to come up with something new and inventive that actually surprises me.  “The Last Jedi” did it though, and how!  Once it gets going, the action is fast paced and shifts from story line to story line fluidly, keeping the viewer interested and looking forward to the next scene. Scenes between Luke (Mark Hamill) and Rey (Dasiy Ridely) evoke those between Luke and his teacher,Yoda.  Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey continue to have some kind of a connection through the Force that we all know will  not end well for one of them, but adds exposition and a dimension to the Force that hitherto has been unexploited, in the movies at least .   Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Issac) continue to shine in their supporting roles.  New comer Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico was surprisingly poignant as a maintenance worker who has a key role in helping the Resistance.  There are too many minor characters to name, but Benecio del Toro and Laura Dern are just two of the many standouts.  Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t end up wanting to own an “ice fox.”  Porgs aside, the ice foxes are absolutely cute and cool. Director and writer Rian Johnson has done a masterful job of respecting the episodes that came before and at the same injecting new life and humor into the eighth episode in a saga that happens in a galaxy far, far away!