Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Zookeeper’s Wife

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The year is 1939 and the place is Poland.  Antonina and Jan Zabiniski are the directors of the Warsaw Zoo.  The animals are well-cared for and loved and the Zabiniskis (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh) are happy and content.  Unfortunately, their somewhat idyllic life is shattered by the invading German Army at the start of World War Two.  The zoo is bombed and the scenes of animals being bombed, strafed and shot for sport by Nazi soldiers are heart rending. The Germans, led in this case by an SS officer who is a big zoologist in Germany, take all the best animals for redistribution, leaving the zoo virtually empty. This brave couple put themselves, and their son, in danger daily by turning their zoo into a human sanctuary by hiding persecuted Jews from the Ghetto in the deserted animal pens and cages.  Jessica Chastain turns in a good performance as the shy, artsy wife who opens her home to over 300 refugees.  Daniel Bruhl is even better as the Berlin zoologist who, in addition to taking the best of the animals, has a misguided idea to recreate extinct Aurochs by selectively breeding various bulls and bison breeds.  How the Zabiniskis are able to hide people from the Nazi’s is a fascinating story told against the backdrop of the Warsaw Ghetto and its ultimate destruction.  The fact that this is all a true story (and very accurately rendered) makes this movie even more amazing.  I can’t quite give this movie a golden apple because it is a little slow moving in points, but it is definitely worth seeing.

Ghost in the Shell

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In this sci-fi thriller movie version of the Japanese anime series, Scarlett Johansson plays Major, a cyber-enhanced human (well, she has a human brain anyway).  I love these futuristic dystopian movies that depict life in a brave, new world of tomorrow, especially if cyborgs or robots are involved.  In this movie, Major is a human whose brain is put into a “shell” or synthetic body after being ‘saved’ from a terrible boating tragedy.  The “ghost” is her essence, or spirit.  She is turned into the perfect soldier and is tasked with stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals from doing their nefarious deeds.  The cinematography is exquisite and had me totally immersed in futuristic Tokyo.  Scarlett Johansson is pretty good playing a robotic-like woman who is starting to realize that her creators may not be telling her the complete truth about what has been done to her.  I also liked Pilou Asbaek as her sidekick Batou, who has a soft spot for dogs.  However, I found the story was slow-paced and the plot very simplistic.  Despite, those drawbacks, and poor reviews from other venues, I think if you see this movie, you will enjoy it.

L I F E

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Astronauts aboard an international Space Station discover the first evidence of life on Mars while looking at samples in their research laboratory-a unicellular organism.  It is also dormant until they wake it up and start to nurture it.  It is a wonder…extraterrestrial life!  And it even seems cute at first, they name it “Calvin.”  But apparently, this organism is smarter, faster growing and far more dangerous than they first realize.  It inevitably escapes and runs amok, with not unexpected devastation.  Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson are three of the astronauts who realize the danger and try to destroy the life form before it continues to grow and, perhaps, pose a threat to earth itself.  Sounds a lot like the Alien movies, doesn’t it?  This sci-fi, horror movie isn’t up to the same standard of suspense and terror as those movies, and not simply because this one lacks a hero like Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.  There was too much gut wrenching gore and not enough character development or plot for my tastes.  SPOILER ALERT:  The ending of this movie is a big cop out and not what I want to see in my movies.  I would say skip this one and find a rerun of Alien or Aliens.

Beauty and the Beast

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Well, they did it!  They actually remade a beloved classic that is worthy of becoming a classic  itself!  The dazzling special effects are eye popping (even more so in 3D)!  The enchanting rendition of “Be My Guest” was enhanced by the voice of Ewan McGregor who was wonderful as Lumiere.  Emma Watson made a perfect Belle, pretty, fiesty and compassionate.  Dan Stevens is seamless as the gruff Beast who just longs for love…. and finally earns it.  Other notable cast members include Emma Thompson, Ian McKellan, Josh Gad and Kevin Kline.  Gaston, the man you love to hate, is played to narcissistic perfection by Luke Evans. I must admit that I thought I would hate anyone other than Angela Lansbury singing “Beauty and the Beast” but Emma Thompson’s rendition had just the right amount of pathos and sweetness.  There is room on your DVD shelf (if people even have such a thing anymore) for the animated and live action versions of Beauty and the Beast.

Kong: Skull Island

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This was an interesting remake of the familiar Kong story.  I loved how we don’t have to wait until the movie was half over to catch a glimpse of Kong, we get to see him right from the beginning.  Everyone knows the basic story:  people come to the mysterious Skull Island, find the legendary beast, there is a pretty girl involved, and then mayhem ensues.  But this movie adds some interesting twists and avoids the classic Beauty and the Beast theme.  It turns out Kong is really protecting us from some bad creatures who have the capacity to overrun the world and destroy humanity in the process.  The cast is excellent. John Goodman plays Bill Randa, a scientist who believes there is ‘something’ to be found on the island, and he wants to find it, though not for the most altruistic reasons of course.  Samuel L. Jackson is perfect as the too gung-ho Army officer leading the troops escorting the mission to Skull Island. Tom Hiddelston and Brie Larson really don’t have that much to do as the tracker and the photographer.  Larson does get a brief scene with Kong, but it is quite different and very subdued compared to previous outings.  John C. Reilly adds some comic relief as a WWII pilot who was shot down over the island and is more than ready to get back home.  The special effects are pretty amazing; we saw this in 3D and so should you.  If you go, stay to the very end of the movie to see a teaser for a likely sequel.  By the way, any movie that features Credence Clearwater Revival singing “Run Through the Jungle” can’t be all bad.