Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

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Another winner from Marvel! Apparently, this is the 29th movie in the Marvel Universe; and it compares with all of the best ones. The premise is that 1,000 years ago, a man named Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), nicknamed The Mandarin, found ten magical rings that gave him immortality and unmatched power. He then starts the Ten Rings, a terrorist organization that has spread to every country. The movie follows the son of Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) who must comes to terms with his father’s evil regime, and the underlying dynamics that hardened the Mandarin’s evil will. The writing is crisp, the sets are great, and the special effects are dazzling. However the best parts of a Marvel movie are the complex characters and witty humor which you will find and appreciate in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. If you enjoyed Dr. Strange, you will love this one, and will certainly enjoy a cameo by a Dr. Strange character. My favorite supporting character was Awkwafina as Katy, Shang-Chi’s hilarious friend, who finds her real self and is by his side in all of his adventures. Other stellar actors were Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, and Florian Munteanu who plays the menacing Razor Fist. Of course, don’t forget to stay to the very end of the credits. All in all, you will not regret taking the whole family to this one!

A WHOLE LOTTA MOVIES

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It has been quite a summer! Even though I have been busy taking trips (one to Vermont and one to Disney World), I still found time to see movies. So here it goes, a whole bunch of reviews in the order that I liked the movies.

FREE GUY – This is my favorite movie in this group. It is mindless fun and I really enjoyed it. Ryan Reynolds (the Deadpool guy) stars as a wimpy bank teller who discovers he is actually a background character in a video game. His journey to rise above his coding and gain control of his own life is funny and entertaining. Reynold has a great supporting cast; including Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi and Lil Rel Howery (and Joe Keery from Stranger Things). Watch for couple of very funny short cameos!

STILLWATER: Now for something completely different. Matt Damon is a down on his luck oil rig worker who travels to Marseille, France to visit his daughter, who is serving time in prison for murder. She claims innocence and while he had been an indifferent failue as a dad, he supports her all the way. He spends a lot of time in Marseille proving her innocence, and connects with a single mom and her daughter. Things get rather complex. It’s a very different role for Damon, and he pulls it off well. The setting is in the seedier side of town, and gives an interesting perspective quite different from the more touristy environs of many movies. If you were expecting a Liam Neesem “Taken” story with a happy ending, this may not be the movie for you. However, if you want to see top level acting and something to make you think, you might want to check this out.

THE PROTEGE: This one reminded me a little bit of Atomic Blond. It stars Maggie Q as Anna and Samuel L. Jackson as Moody, a paid assassin. Anna is his protege. But they have no particular political or criminal agenda and only go after people who deserve it. You can plainly see in the trailors that Moody is murdered and Anna must bring the killers to justice. Ah ah ah, not so fast. Be ready for a few twists. And look for Michael Keaton in a role as a somewhat honorable, if unmerciful, professional of his own. If you love Samuel L. Jackson (and I do) you will not think you wasted your time watching this one.

SUICIDE SQUAD: I apologize ahead of time to all the Suicide Squad fans out there. The first movie was okay, but this one didn’t do a thing for me. I didn’t find it funny, thought the Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn tiresome, and the plot weak, confused even. We watched it on television, and felt we wasted a few hours (though at least we didn’t waste our money on movie tickets). I guess if you love the first one; you will enjoy this one, but honestly,there are other movies out there worth more of a view.

Old

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M. Knight Shyamalan is the kind of writer/director that you either love or hate. I happen to fall on the “love” side of the equation. When he is on point, his movies are thrilling, thought provoking and entertaining (think ‘The Village’ or ‘Sixth Sense’). When he is off, his movies are quite unsatisfying, and even silly (‘The Happening’ and the atrocious “Last Airbender’ come to mind). This newest entry falls somewhere in the middle as far as I am concerned. If you have seen any of the trailers, you know this film is set on a beautiful beach; an idyllic and peaceful tropical setting. A family has come to a rather special resort; and they, along with a few other guests, have been offered the opportunity to enjoy this secluded spot. It isn’t long before they find that things are going terribly wrong. They find out the seclusion is total – they can’t leave the beach, they can’t even call out! And the people on this beach are aging at a terrifyingly fast rate. Why is this happening? Is this a freak of nature or is there a sinister human source? The fun of the movie, like all of Shyamalan’s movies, is to try to figure out what the ultimate revelation is going to be. I was really enjoying this movie until it came to its somewhat unsatisfying conclusion. I didn’t feel the ending lived up to the hype of the rest of the movie, it was definitely anticlimactic. So is it worth going to see? If you are a fan of Mr. Shyamalan (who wrote, directed and acted in “Old,” which is based on a graphic novel of the same name), I would give it a look. If you are not a fan, you will probably want to wait on this one.

Black Widow

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It has been almost two years since Marvel has released a new super hero movie to the theatres. In the meantime they have offered some stellar televison entries such as “WandaVision” and “Loki,” just to name a few. “Black Widow” is the first of the delayed big budget movies to be released (The latest James Bond movie has been “coming” for two years) and it was mostly worth the wait. Scarlet Johansson has played the Black Widow in several Marvel movies and even died in one of them, so this is a prequel. The action takes place right after “Captain America: Civil War” where Black Widow is a fugitive seperated from the rest of The Avengers. This really isn’t explained in the movie and I only knew this because I read it on line. To start with, the movie gives us Black Widow’s origin story. Young Natasha lives with her family in Ohio: Mom and Dad – played by David Harbour and Rachel Weisz – are actually Russian spies. She and her sister Yelena – played surprisingly well by the scene stealing Florence Pugh – are totally surprised when things start to fall apart. It turns out this is a fake family and none of them are actaually related; though nevertheless there are familial feelings that will be helpful later in the movie. Yelena and Natasha are trained in a place called the Red Room; where they are taught to kill, fight and all the good action picture skills for super agents. Fast forward about 15 years. Black Widow is now a famous fugitive after the Civil War, and has lost contact with her “sister.” Circumstances lead to a reunion, and once the whole gang is reunited in an effort to destroy the Red Room controlled by the evil Dreykov (Ray Winstone) and his hench-women, the film really takes off. Up to that point, there was lots of action but no heart, no famous Marvel humor. Florence Pugh is a breath of fresh air as the younger sister who feels overshadowed by her older sibling but is a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Florence is extremely entertaining and actually upstages the other, more experienced actors. I smell a movie or television series for her!! This movie has everything you want to see in a Marvel movie: action, humor, impossible situations, and interesting villians. However, this is one confusing movie. Several events from other back histories were alluded to and it was taken for granted that the audience remembered them. I, and I’m sure other viewers not steeped in the esoterica of the MCU, had no idea why Black Widow was a fugitive, what the Red Room was, and how she even became an Avenger. A little exposition might have helped. Because of the confusing plot, I can’t quite give Black Widow a Golden Apple, but it was a good movie and best watched on a large theatre screen.

In the Heights

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When I saw the play about five or six years ago, I had never heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda. It didn’t matter because my husband and I loved “In the Heights.” Then Miranda exploded on the scene with “Hamilton,” and “In the Heights” was kind of forgotten. They’ve made up for that oversight with the release of this enthusiastic and exciting movie. Even though it sometimes strays from the play, all in all this was a very enjoyable movie. The music and lyrics are top-notch and the cinematography and choreography are eye-popping and vibrant. Anthony Ramos plays Usnavi (great story about the origin of his name), who dreams of returning to his native Dominican Republic to reopen his late father’s bar. The entire story takes place in the Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights in Upper Manhatten. The movie is full of the flavors and sounds of various cultures coming together during a three day blackout as the temperatures soar to over 100 degrees and everything and everyone seems to be coming apart. Like Usnavi, everyone has high hopes and there are many stories and dreams to explore. They are dreaming of winning the big lottery jackpot and getting out of the Heights for good. Who will win it, who will end up with who, and who will fullfill their dreams and most importantly, what will happen to the Heights, makes for an interesting plot. I enjoyed all the performances, big and small. Some notable standouts were Jimmy Smits as the sacrificing father and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn 99) one of the beauticians in the neighborhood salon. Miranda also has a role as a street vendor who sells shaved ice from his cart. I am sorry that this movie was released on HBO Max at the same time it came out in theatres, because it is the kind of movie that is meant to be seen on the big screen, in a theatre! If you’re thinking of watching it at home, I suggest you venture outside and go to your local movie theatre…and don’t forget the popcorn!!