The music’s great… The film? Not so much. It fell into the trap of the biopic overseen by the subject’s family. A middle of the road, safe, uninteresting tale that doesn’t portray the messiness that makes the subject interesting in the first place. And for some odd reason, the story skips huge chunks of Marley’s life and skips back and forth on the timeline like a Christopher Nolan film, but without the narrative clarity. Without a lot of Bob Marley background knowledge, it left me feeling like I barely knew anything more by the time the credits rolled, which left me feeling like a great deal of wasted potential was left on the cutting room floor on this one.
You know, come to think of it, this is a better version of “Love Lies Bleeding” but without the bodybuilding. I finally figured out the connection!
A fun road trip caper with unlikely… heroes(?) At least we finally get the answer to the age old question “what’s in the box?!?” and it does not disappoint.
Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan “Thelma & Louise” it with just enough twists along the way to keep it fresh and just a tad nostalgic. They may not pick up a Brad Pitt lookalike hitchhiker, but they do stumble upon a softball team that pinch hits in his place as a temporary love interest for our dynamic duo as Jamie slowly but surely gets Marian’s nose out of her book and headfirst into… adventure.
I still can’t tell you exactly what the point of all this was. There’s gun running, body building, she hulk, and… Dave Franco. That’s all I got. It was a strange one, which I knew going in since it’s from A24, but I expected a little bit more by the time the credits rolled.
If you enjoyed the first one, you’ll enjoy this one. In the spirit of that consistency, here’s my review for “Dune 1” again, with a few numerical changes for it being part 2…
The prodigal son is cast out into the desert. Let me guess, for 40 days?
Yes, the Jesus metaphor is that on the nose for all 3 hours of the runtime.
I went into this film expecting spectacle, and spectacle I got. All three stories of the IMAX screen were bathed in the cinematic beauty of this film. The score crafted by the masterful Hans Zimmer thundering through my chest… all for me to leave the theater underwhelmed and confused. Similar to the “Hobbit” series, “Dune” attempted to be too careful not to overwhelm the audience with lore and instead errors on the side of feeling ultimately empty. The disbelief and shock on my face when I was greeted with “Part 2” immediately after the title flashed across the screen must have been a sight to see.
This cake is all frosting. Somewhere between “Star Wars” and “Mad Max,” the world they build is breathtaking. Then there’s nothing really behind the curtain. I felt like they were trying to avoid the cramped confusion of the cult-classic original film adaptation and overcorrected.
If you don’t care about the story, have at it. Just don’t disrespect it by watching on a TV or, God forbid, a mobile device. Highly recommend the most massive screen possible for the spectacle factor. Here’s to, I guess, hoping there’s enough box office success for them to fill in the gaps in part 3.
Hey! It’s the girl from “The Breakfast Club!” (Ally Sheedy)
Anywho… as we embark on Ferris Bueller’s Day at DEFCON 1… this was such a surprisingly fun flick! We can only hope that the new AI is this easy to topple when it desires to get a little big for its britches. Essentially “Ender’s Game,” but with a happy ending instead of a horrifying one. Broderick’s charm on full display, and a fun geek flick/red scare flick the likes of “Real Genius” or “Red Dawn.”
Bonus – I better understood the references included in “Ready Player One,” which I’m currently listening to on Audible as my 100th audiobook.
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 