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Flash Movie Review: The Garfield Movie
WE ALL MET IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, some as far back as kindergarten. All through school we remained friends and continued so into high school, despite drifting off into our different comfort zones. Though I rarely saw them through high school and not at all during my college years, I was always fond of them. One of those friends taught me how to cut crepe paper with scissors. It was because I was the only lefthanded student in my kindergarten class. When the teacher was teaching us, I could not hold the scissors like the rest of the kids sitting at my table. She was sitting next to me and carefully showed me how to use the scissors a separate way where I could then cut the paper. This is how we met and remained friends; she was always one of the sweetest girls in school; I never forgot her act of kindness, even after all these decades. Another friend had an Irish Wolfhound dog that was huge. The dog could nearly look at you at eye level, he was that tall. All of us were excited when our friend told us her dog was going to be in a dog food commercial. Being so big, he was a fast runner, just like his owner, my friend. I always believed my friend was one of the smartest kids in class, so I assumed she figured out how to make her dog a star. YEARS LATER AT A CLASS REUNION, the four of us met up and had a wonderful evening reminiscing about our youth. The biggest shock for me was hearing what everyone wound up doing in life. From our experiences in childhood, I was left with impressions of who these friends were; however, hearing what they did in their adult life surprised me. One friend became a historian on stolen art, collaborating on movies and shows that focused on artwork stolen during World War II. The woman who taught me how to use scissors is a playwright who has a new show debuting at a famous theater festival. The last friend from our small group, who had the big dog, received her doctorate, and became a professor at a university. She had recently retired to take a new position setting up a doctorial program in her field of expertise at another university. I could not believe how these three individuals, became such successful and I might add powerful women in their industry. I am glad I knew them then and now because it makes their lives appear richer to me. I was hoping to get a similar sense with this animated, adventure comedy about one of my favorite cartoon characters. SURPRISED BY HIS UNEXPECTED REUNION WITH his long-lost father, Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt (The Tomorrow War, The Kid), leaves the comfort of his home to help his dad in one last heist. With Samuel L. Jackson (The Kill Room, Damaged) voicing Vic, Hannah Waddingham (The Fall Guy, Ted Lasso-TV) voicing Jinx, Ving Rhames (The Locksmith, Con Man) as Otto and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield, The Current War) voicing Jon; this movie did not offer much insight or newness to Garfield’s story. I did not care for the script because it portrayed a toned-down version of Garfield, we all remember from the comic strip and Bill Murray film. Younger children will enjoy this picture better than the older ones and adults. I did like the style of animation, though. It would have helped if the writers had the older version of Garfield in their minds when they chose to write the script. There were times I was bored, especially when the upcoming action was obvious to the viewer. In a way, I felt I was seeing a different version of the satirical, lazy, smart aleck Garfield I enjoyed seeing these past years.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Marvels
THROUGH THE YEARS, I HAVE BUMPED into individuals that I had no contact with for decades. Sometimes, it has happened in such random places. For example, on a trip to Greece I was standing in line to catch a tram from a destination spot and bumped into a childhood friend back from elementary school days, which was many years ago. He and his wife were standing in front of me, and I recognized his face. We agreed to meet up for drinks and had a good time reminiscing about our school years together. The time we spent together was fun, but upon returning to the states we went on with our separate lives. Our time together became a fun add-on to my vacation stories. I believe the long duration of time melted the bond we had with each other back then. If I were to venture a guess, I think a lot of it would have to do with our vastly different experiences in high school. He was more of a gentle jock type, who excelled in physical activities. In my book, that gives the student a pass from any type of abuse or ridicule, unlike me. I was not proficient in most sports activities and being overweight made me an easy target. So, I learned how to withdraw from most high school events and social gatherings. JUST BY COINCIDENCE, I RECENTLY RAN into two friends at a social function, who I had not seen for many years. I noticed the warm feelings that flooded through me as we sat and chatted, having been close friends back then. It was as if time had not passed by us all these years, because we found ourselves in a joyful, sweet rhythm of talking and sharing our life’s journeys with each other. For me, one of the added joys seeing each other was how our memories, which had been dormant for so long, easily rose into our conversations as we relived some of the great times we had together. I have a question for you: have you ever encountered a fond person from your past and discovered you had been missing something in your current life? Well, that is how I felt about my time spent with these two friends. As a result, we exchanged our contact information and planned to get together again. Making those plans was so much fun as the three of us were sending texts back and forth about how great it was to see each other and hoped we could get together real soon. As it turned out we did, and our friendship picked up from where we left it. It is that type of long-lost connection that I found charming in this action, adventure fantasy film. HAVING CARRIED THE HEAVY BURDEN FROM the outcome of her past experiences with the Kree, Captain Marvel, played by Brie Larson (Short Term 12, Just Mercy), finds herself entangled with two other individuals, one of them is from her past, who will all need to work together to save the universe. With Teyonah Parris (Dear White People, If Beale Street Could Talk) as Monica Rambean, Iman Vellani (Avengers franchise, Ms. Marvel-TV) as Kamala Khan, Samuel L. Jackson (The Kill Room, The Protégé) as Nick Fury and Zawe Ashton (Nocturnal Animals, Velvet Buzzsaw) as Dar-Benn; for a product of the Marvel universe, this movie was a disappointment. I enjoyed the connection between the three main stars, especially Iman’s character. The fight scenes had a fun element, and the CGI effects were good; however, the script was a scattered mess. At times, I found several scenes filled with slapstick humor that then morphed into dramatic, sorrowful scenes. The excitement and thrills of past Marvel films did not appear in this picture. And as I have said before, if the villain is truly not menacing then the story will never succeed. For all the money spent on this, what a shame. There was only one (what a shock) extra scene during the ending credits.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
BECAUSE I DID NOT WANT HIM for my partner was the reason, I was sure, I wound up assigned to him by the professor. Maybe the teacher was able to pick up the negative vibes I had toward this student, who I found to be loud and obnoxious. During lectures, this student would make snide or rude comments in a voice only loud enough for the students who were around him. Inevitability, there would be a student who would have to stifle their laughter from the comment, making it hard for the rest of us to hear the teacher. It was not like I was so strait-laced and proper, but this was an ongoing thing that got annoying to me after the first few times. When the professor paired us together for the assignment, I detected a bit of hesitancy on this classmate’s part. We never had any type of interaction; he was just as perplexed about me being selected as his partner. I gathered my belongings and changed seats with the person sitting next to him. The subject of this class was sociology; so, I assumed the professor was making these moves to prove some type of point about society. I only hoped this was going to be a one-time event because I was already missing the comfort of my former seat. AFTER THE PROFESSOR EXPLAINED THE ASSIGNMENT, the two of us spoke for the first time. I offered my take on what we needed to get to the next step. As I spoke, I noticed on the inside cover of his notebook was the logo for one of my favorite music bands. I asked him if he had drawn it and he said yes. It turned out he was a fan of the band as well. When I mentioned I thought the drawing of the logo was perfect, he smiled then flipped through some more pages to reveal other band logos he had drawn. Each of them was so precise and accurate that I could not help myself from telling him about going to a couple of those bands’ concerts. I could tell by his facial expression, he was surprised to hear how much I was into music; funny, I was thinking the same thing about him. We wound up in this detailed discussion of the various bands’ song choices, momentarily forgetting about the actual task at hand. I would have never guessed we would have bonded over music. For the rest of the semester, whenever there was an opportunity, we would sit together. The cliché, “Never judge a book by its cover” can be applied here as well as in this animated, action comedy. FORCED BY AN EVIL LORD TO defend a town from a brutal villain, a hound quickly discovers the citizens hate him simply because he is a dog. The townsfolk are all cats. With Michael Cera (Molly’s Game, Gloria Bell) voicing Hank, Samuel L. Jackson (Shaft, Big Game) voicing Jimbo, Ricky Gervais (The Invention of Lying, Ghost Town) voicing Ika Chu, relative newcomer Kylie Kuloka voicing Emiko and Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs) voicing The Shogun; this movie was an odd mix. The humor went from the level of young kids to adults; the idea of the story was fun, but it came across like a Kung Fu Panda wannabe with Blazing Saddles by Mel Brooks. The animation was well done and there were pieces of dialog I enjoyed. Underlying all of this was the message behind the story, which I thought was admirable. There also was an easy predictability to the script that kept a steady pace of action and banter going all the time. If I had not connected to the message, I do not think I would have stayed engaged with this picture. There was a short extra scene after the ending credits.
2 ¼ stars
moviejoltz 