There are some new flicks out, and there is something for everyone!
Rampage
The Rock can do little wrong these days, and Rampage is proof positive. Rampage is a monster movie, plain and simple. This is the story of a affable, intelligent Albino Gorilla named George, and his handler, (The Rock). After an accident, George is exposed to a secret agent gas that causes genetic editing. Meaning George is growing out of control, and is becoming more violet, agitated and a threat to everyone.
Also exposed were a wolf, and alligator, and now they are all gigantic monsters all converging on Chicago. The only hope is a cure, and that is what our team of human heroes are trying to deliver. The national critics are going to hammer this, but the public is going to eat this up and make it a huge hit.
This is a throwback to the monster movie era, with a modern twist of today’s humor, and the charm of Dwayne Johnson. This is simply mindless entertainment at its core. This movie says nothing, has no agenda, and just gives you about 2 hours of flat out entertainment.
Rampage. Not a literary movie, but just fun. Go have fun.
A Quiet Place
There are many things about this movie that make it very original and others that don’t. But for me, the good far outweighs the bad. This is a 90-minute intense thriller that doesn’t sell out to special effects and uses just good old fashioned ways to scare you.
Set in today’s world, some sort of event has happened and Earth is now inhabited by these awful creatures that are barbaric and hunt humans, but can only do so when they hear them. They cannot see, but sound of any kind now is the enemy of all of mankind. So this family lives in silence and communicates through sign language to survive. But they soon learn that is easier said than done, as about every imaginable thing makes sound on earth. Can they survive?
This movie has very little dialogue, and that is very interesting. The silence to me still, became a bit fatiguing, but at only 90 minutes (good decision) this works. And this is going to continue to work for a few weeks, as word of mouth will be great on this, and it’s quite good.
A Quiet Place. Very good, intense.
Truth Or Dare
Leave it to Hollywood to take a slightly naughty 7th grade game and turn it into an ugly, semi-violent mess, but here we go again. What’s next? Spin The Bottle? Truth is, this is not very daring at all, as this really smacks of the whole Final Destination franchise. There is nothing here that’s very original.
A group of about to graduate college students from California takes a Spring Break trip to Mexico. There they end up cursed with this whole Truth Or Dare spirit that takes the game literally. Don’t tell the truth, you die. Don’t do the dare, you die. Try to leave the game, you die. So you are basically up a creek if you are exposed. This is not very compelling, and not overly violent, and not really very racy, as I was expecting. In fact, it’s really not much of anything except too long, and too tired as a premise.
This is still more evidence that Hollywood is out of fresh ideas, and is grasping at straws. This just lies there and takes you no where you have not been 100 times before.
Truth Or Dare. Yawn!
Beirut
Here comes one of the years best movies. Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike star in this absolutely riveting movie about the incredible challenge that was and is Beirut. This is a government thriller with a plot that you don’t know, and can’t figure out. Amazing writing, directing, sets, and performances bring this to life brilliantly.
This takes place between 1972 and 1982, and the beginning of the civil war there, and there are numerous factions involved as a highly placed U.S. official is kidnapped, Now how do we get him back? Who has him? And at what price? Hamm and Pike are terrific, and are cast perfectly in this gritty, hard to watch sometimes authentic piece. In this time frame of early spring, it can be tough to find slick, well done movies that are not special effect fests, or spring break type of flicks. This is neither, and no matter what happens between now and Christmas, this will be one of the years best movies.
Beirut. Great writing, great performances and totally worth seeing.
Blockers
Well, there seems to be no end to these kinds of movies, the raunchy comedy that through it all, tries to grow a heart and say something. Well, as raunchy and at times as distasteful as some of this is, there are some laughs. And even though this is an exaggerated look at parents letting their teens grow up sexually, there is enough truth to make this fun.
John Cena and Leslie Manna are pretty darn funny as panicked parents who are trying to get in the way of a “sex pact” that their daughters have made to lose their virginity on prom night. Without question, some of this goes way too far, and there are things we don’t need to see, but I laughed at times, and felt the parents fear for most of this.
What I wish is, that the makers of these movies would remember is that there is a limit. Not every scene has to be 7th grade locker room funny. A bit of imagination, a small rewrite, and a sharper editing blade would be in order and movies like this could be a bit more attractive to more peeps. Until then, we have to watch Cena chug beer through his kiester. Just sayin’
Blockers. Yes, funny a times. An acquired taste.
scott@wqmx.com