Multiplex Madness
Homestead
⭐️
Genre: Thriller, Faith
Director: Ben Smallbone
Starring: Neil McDonough, Dawn Olivieri, Susan Misner, Jesse Hutch, Bailey Chase
Angel Studios barely knows how to make faith dramas. The fact that they also seem to think they know how to make apocalyptic thrillers is honestly really funny. The last time I saw something comparable from them was last year's multiverse sci-fi The Shift, also starring Neil McDonough. That did not encourage me to think they should try genre-pushing again. Homestead is apparently based on a book series called Black Autumn, so maybe Angel is hoping for their own dystopian franchise. I sincerely hope the books are better than this.
Homestead takes place in the aftermath of some sort of attack on America that...did...things...? Exactly what happened is kept extremely vague. The only thing that we directly see is that a boat off the coast explodes and some sort of toxin is released into the air. After that, the sky turns orange and the power grid goes out. Apparently, the power thing was something separate, I don't know, but we are delivered exposition clumsily through a family who doesn't know what's going on, but somehow knows exactly what to do in this specific situation as they run to the car screaming "Just don't breathe the air!" (Hint: Your not calming your kids down in a crisis if your survival tip is "Just don't breathe."). They then load up into a car and hit a button on the dash, as the car's computer says "Bioweapon Defense Mode Activated." Is this standard issue? Can all cars do this nowadays? Am I screwed because I own a used car from twenty years ago? Seriously, we're not even five minutes into this movie and I've already completely given up on it. But long-story-short, they travel to Neil McDonough's ranch house, which acts as a safe haven for select families. But he has to pick and choose who he lets in, while others sit outside the fence and look like lost puppies looking for a home. It's like watching a stripped down episode of The Walking Dead that's refocusing to appeal to an audience that wants movies to be much fluffier, with more praying and less flesh-eating.
It's not that hard to decipher what the movie wants to do. It seems like the people making this film want to make a story of community, environmental care, and independence from technology. Whether or not they understand how much they garbled those messages in static is unknown to me. It's commentary on crisis desperation is hollow and surface-level, never exploring what it's trying to portray, as all extras come off as mindless wandering NPCs rather than human beings. The one point the movie threatens to become interesting is when the group is pressured to become more militant to protect what they have and a teenage boy shoots an innocent man, causing him to be overwhelmed with guilt. The boy's love interest helps share his pain by telling the guilt of having a heart transplant, saying "He died so I can live." Yeah...um...this isn't the same thing. Heart transplants aren't taken from randos who are forced onto a table and have their vital organs taken (unless her parents went through the black market for that heart, and if they did, I have questions), they're given by people who died in something totally unreleated and willingly signed off on being an organ donor. That's about the level of awareness this movie has. The entire movie is written in this gobsmackingly stupid drone, right down to a climax firefight that happens because some government guy wants guns or taxes or some shit and sicks a police S.W.A.T. team on the ranch, who likely have better things to do during an apocalypse than this. The movie then swings for the fences with it's faith ending, where the movie clearly thinks it has passed on some sort of powerful message of life. The only message it succeeds in getting across is how to grift money out of an easy mark of an audience.
Mufasa: The Lion King
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Adventure, Musical
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Seth Rogan, Billy Eichner, Tiffany's Boone, Donald Glover, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
The Circle of Life continues, as should be! It's not a surprise that we have another Lion King movie. It always seemed inevitable. In fact, it's actually surprising that there have only been three theatrical Lion King movies made in the last thirty years, as the rest have been direct to video (or television). It was a bit of a questionable legacy to what is probably one of the greatest animated films of all time (some might even consider it the greatest), but maybe less is more. I hardly remember the live action remake, anyway. I know I've seen it, but when I think of the events of this story, I always think of the original movie. Seeing it with photorealism was an interesting novelty, but the original was irreplaceable.
Acting as both a sequel and a prequel to the previous film, Mufasa: The Lion King centers on Rafiki sitting down with Simba and Nala's daughter Kiara, telling her the story of her grandfather, Mufasa, and how he went from a lost lion cub to king of the Pride Lands. Timon and Pumba are there too, often used as humorous intermission because most children probably aren't interested in a Lion King story that doesn't involve their beloved shtick. As to whether or not this movie is a more worthwhile investment than the previous remake, this movie contains a few of the same issues I remember having with it, such as more concentration on making the characters look lifelike than lively and dull musical numbers that visiually just offer a bunch of animals frolicking. As someone who is more intimately familiar with the original film than the remake, I find myself more intrigued about getting a story based on Mufasa as a youngster than a sequel to the last movie. That story has its ups and downs, but it had more thoughtfulness in it than I was expecting. There is a serious attempt at making Mufasa's story distinct from Simba's, ensuring that the story isn't just "The Lion King Again" (which is a one-up this movie has on the sequel to Gladiator, anyway). There is also a lot of heart given to Mufasa's relationship with Taka, who would grow up to become the villainous Scar. Truth-be-told, I enjoyed the depth they gave Taka in this movie. Using a recent film for comparison, Taka's journey could have been as hollow as Megatron's in Transformers One, where he starts off as one character and just suddenly switches his entire personality halfway through because the plot demands it. The Taka that ends this movie is very believable as the same character who starts it, and he's very believable as the same character as Scar in the first Lion King. It's solid writing.
But there are things that hold it back. For starters, Mufasa's story isn't as strong as the story told for Simba in the previous film. There is a slight deflation to this, because Mufasa has always been such a powerful and bold presence, so wise of his knowledge of life. Mufasa needs a story that feels bigger than Simba's because the character always presented himself as if he was. A lost lion cub on a journey with an adopted brother doesn't quite feel like that is a story worthy of such a character. The idea of him forming the Pride Lands might be, but there is a slightness to how this transpires, while it also undermines the "Circle of Life" aspect of the Lion King, which always implied that Mufasa and Simba were never the first kings and they were far from the last. And finally is Lin-Manuel Miranda's music, which lives in the shadow of Elton John. Miranda is a talent, and Moana 2 was all the weaker for not having him onboard, but there just isn't the same power to the music in this movie. It's probably the weakest musical offering I've seen from him, even though the songs are still enjoyable in the moment. And that's the underlining problem with this movie as a whole: it's a good effort that is living behind the behemoth of something greater. But it's hard to overshadow The Lion King, no matter how good your movie is.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Comedy, Superhero, Adventure, Action
Director: Jeff Fowler
Starring: Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba, Coleen O'Shaugnessey, Krystan Ritter, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter
Sonic fans will be pleased to know that the third film is the best in the series. What exactly this means for people like me who thought the first two movies sucked balls is more complicated. I'm still irritated at this franchise for that first film, which has one of the most disgusting morals I've ever seen in a children's film, where the story told us we should put aside self-aspiration because it might make someone you barely know (who also watches you while you sleep) feel sad. I feel gross just thinking about that movie, as well as the enabled toxicity that resulted from changing the main character's design to appease fans. I mean, it was a horrid original design, but it underlined the film's thematic message of appeasing incels in a very yucky way. The only saving grace was a hilarious performance by Jim Carrey. The second one was just junky and dumb. Still had Jim Carrey, though. The third one has two Jim Carreys! Yay!
This new adventure has Sonic colliding with a dark hedgehog named Shadow, who is just as fast as Sonic, but goth! Shadow seeks revenge for the death of a human companion from years prior, and teams up with Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik and his grandfather (also played by Carrey) to watch the world burn. Personally, I enjoyed the original Sonic games, but I drifted from the franchise as Sonic's personality became more defined. I just don't like Sonic as a character. I find his attitude grating. Sonic has always been insufferable, and any movie he stars in will struggle against mediocrity until they figure out a way around that. But even if it can't, the strength of this third film lies in cutting Jim Carrey loose and letting him hog the spotlight. Carrey is a blast in this movie, and it's by far his best work in this franchise, and probably the funniest he has been since his heyday in the 90's. It's a shame the movie can't solely be about him, as we flash back to the obnoxious critters running around. But, to be fair, a few of the gags are solid, and the movie is adequately funny. It's shallow, but it's entertaining. I could have done for more development on Shadow, who seemed to have a sweet relationship with a little girl. We find out a bit about her, but not enough for motivations in this film to fully make sense. We also find out very little about where Shadow came from or if he's from the same world as Sonic. Maybe the video games answer this, but I wouldn't know, because I haven't played Sonic since the days of Genesis. I don't think any of this will matter to the intended audience, who likely just want to see Sonic run fast, be smarmy, and entertain them swiftly. At that goal, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 succeeds. Even for a grump like me who had no expectations for it, I have to admit, this one was fun enough.
Wicked Part I ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
New To Digital
Anora ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
New To Physical
Absolution ⭐️⭐️
Conclave ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Joker: Folie à Deux ⭐️1/2
Piece by Piece ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Terrifier 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Transformers One ⭐️⭐️
Coming Soon!
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