Movie Review: Power Rangers

I kind of remember watching the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on TV as a really young kid, with my youngest brother being a baby almost. Back then we liked most anything that was colorful on TV, while my Mom did not. Having older brothers that could change the channel when she left the room was handy. These memories made me curious about this weeks movie, Power Rangers.

The movie starts in the Cenozoic era on Earth, 65 million years ago. It shows volcanoes erupting in the background as a Red Power Ranger crawls on the ground. He gets to the Yellow Power Ranger and takes her power coin, causing the armor around her to disappear, revealing the dying alien inside of it. Then the Red Power Ranger continues crawling while asking Alpha 5 to aim the meteor towards him. He takes the power coin and buries it with the other four he has including his own telling them to find someone worthy, when he is then confronted by the Rita Repulsa (played by Elizabeth Banks). As they speak, we find out the Red Power Ranger is Zordon (played by Bryan Cranston) and he is trying to save the world from Rita. Rita says that Zordon won't survive fighting her, and Zordon says they will both die together. The meteor hits shortly after, sending Rita into the sea with a green power coin, drowning her, and killing Zordon immediately.

It then moves to the present day where two high school students are bringing a cow into the locker rooms for a prank. One says that they should have done something else instead and begin arguing, when they hear police signals from outside. One of the two, Jason (played by Dacre Montgomery) gets in his truck and starts driving away. The police chase after him, but he escapes from them and continues driving away. Just when he thinks he is good he ends up in a car crash that wrecks the truck, injures him, and gets caught by the police. It goes to six days later when he is being dropped off to his school by his dad (played by David Denman) for detention. They talk about why Jason has to go there, how disappointed his dad is, and shows the ankle tracker that he now has to wear because of his actions.

The story plot was ok, but honestly I thought with the action at the beginning that we would have a decent amount through the whole movie, but that was not the case. As with a lot of origin movies, most of the action was at the end. I would compare the length of time between the beginning and the action to Batman v Superman, but I think this one had a bit more in it. Even though it takes a while to get to most of the action, when it does it makes you feel like a young kid again. Or at least, that's how I felt for a moment or two. It was nice to have that nostalgia on knowing how they all became Power Rangers in this, plus some backstory on the first Power Rangers as well. But with how graphic some of the violence in this, I would probably not recommend very young children going to see this.

The acting was not as cheesy as the original Power Rangers, but still pretty up there. I think it is just their trademark at this point. I actually think that is why Elizabeth Banks was so perfect for her role as Rita. She knows the perfect balance between cheesy funny and cringing cheesy. She also managed to bring some actual feeling of terror of her character to the roll, which again helped with that balance. I will give props to RJ Cyler who played the Blue Power Ranger Billy as well. It is told early into the movie that he is on the autism spectrum, and how he portrayed that was done well. Another movie that has a main character with autism is The Accountant. These of course affect me personally, not because I am on the autism scale, but because my difficulties have what they call autistic tendencies. I think it is great for kids to see people like this as someone they can look up to. The other actors were good for their roles for the most part as well, and with the mid-credit scene you know they will have more movies to improve and build from here.

Overall, the acting was done very well considering the roles and cheesiness, and the story went very in depth with most everything they never explained before. If you are or were a long time Power Rangers fan, or are just starting into it, this movie is definitely something to watch. As for negatives, keep in mind this is supposed to be a kids movie, but probably not for kids under the age of five. And so, for the reasons above, I would rate this movie 7.8/10.

Movie Review: Beauty and the Beast (2017)

I have grown up with Disney movies in my house my whole life. Though I don't remember it very well, we had the original Beauty and the Beast on VHS when I was very young. I am told that we would watch it a lot because it was one of my favourites, so I am excited to see what they will do with the live action version. So, I hope you enjoy my review on the new Beauty and the Beast.

The movie starts out nearly the same as the 1991 animated movie does, but this time it's not told on stained glass. It shows a hand picking a rose, then as a narrator speaks the story of the spoiled Prince (played by Dan Stevens), we zoom in on him getting makeup on to get ready for his ball. He had only the most beautiful people and things ever surround him. As the party is going on a storm arises and there is a thunderous knock at the door. As the Prince rises to check it out, the doors burst open and in comes an ugly beggar woman asking for shelter in exchange for a rose. The prince laughs as do the others around him. The woman says to not be deceived by looks, but the Prince casts her out again. It is at this moment that the old woman turns into the beautiful Enchantress and places a curse on him and his castle.

It then goes to Belle (played by Emma Watson) coming out of her house and singing about the provincial town that she lives in. She bumps into the town baker and buys some bread and talks about her book briefly but he is not interested. As she goes along the rest of the town comes to life saying hello and good morning to each other. Belle gets to the town library, which is really small, returns the book she had just read and borrows one of her favorites. It is at this time we meet Gaston (played by Luke Evans) and LeFou (played by Josh Gad) coming back from a war while talking. Gaston talks of how he wants to marry Belle, and then it continues on with the song.

The story plot was very much like the original for people going for nostalgic reasons. The changes they did make were pretty noticeable though as well. You know there are going to be changes made, especially when going from one and a half hours to two hours. There were additional storylines to round out some of the characters, as well as some musical numbers. I am not going to go into specifics and spoil the movie, but for the most part they were a great touch. There were a couple that I thought were distracting to the story, though. I am torn with some of the new songs as well. Some were good and some seemed unnecessary and almost gave the movie an unfinished feel.

First I would like to say that the people who chose the actors made a wonderful choice with all of them. The one thing I probably missed most from the original movie though is the deep voice Gaston had, but with the way Luke Evans portrayed him, it almost didn't matter. Emma Watson did a great job with Belle and showing us her strength, but I did miss a little of her initial warmth we get with the animation. She may have brought a little too much Hermione over from Harry Potter forgetting that even when Belle says no to Gaston proposing marriage, she was gentle and kind. That may have been the writers as well, it's a tough call with that one. The one that surprised me the most though was Dan Stevens. I have been watching him on his new show Legion and he has such a quiet voice there most of the time I could not see him with the rough growly persona of the Beast, but he pulled it off brilliantly. I just wish we could have seen more than just his eyes for most of the movie as he is great with facial expressions, more than the CGI face of Beast was anyways.

Overall, the story plot had some good changes and some not as good ones, and the acting might have been a little better in some places. But as much as negativity goes, it's better to see the good rather than focus on the bad, which I think might be the moral of the movie. And so, I would rate this movie 8.2/10.

Movie Review: Logan

This weeks review is on Logan, which I could not see on my own due to its 18A rating, so I would like to say thank-you to my Mom for accompanying me to this. I did look up the reason for the rating before hand and figured if the movies I have watched with 14A ratings that should have been higher, like Deadpool, I could handle the violence that they say is the reason for the higher rating. I was really interested in seeing where they took Wolverine after having watched all the previous X-Men movies.

The movie starts out with Logan (played by Hugh Jackman) waking up in the back of a limousine with some movement and noises happening outside. As he stumbles out the door, he finds a gang trying to steal the tires but failing. He is old but tries to warn them to stop. They think it is all a game and shoot him. He gets back up and brings out the claws, but one does not come out all the way. The gang start to fight him and it starts to look like they're winning, until the limo gets shot. Logan gets angry and starts chopping off limbs and killing them. Some of them manage to get away, but Logan is still pretty upset that the limo is damaged.

We find out it is the year 2029 and Logan is working in El Paso, Texas as a limo driver. We see him working his way through a variety of fares ranging from business people, to wedding parties and funerals. It is while he is waiting at a funeral he is approached by a woman who recognizes him as Wolverine. This makes him really upset as she insists she needs his help and he is the only one that can do it. He tells her to leave and gets back to his current client.

The plot in this movie is probably the most heartfelt and honest plot in all the X-Men movies. We see Logan struggling with old age, which he has never had to worry about before. Being over 170 years old, you can see it upsets him. He is sick and can't heal as well. He is almost all alone as the other X-Men were hunted and killed. All he has left is Xavier (played by Sir Patrick Stuart) who is also struggling with failing health. There is a huge emotional element to the story as they bring in what appears to be the first new mutant in a long time. The movie does get its 18A rating for good cause though. There is quite a bit of language and one brief nudity scene, but there is a massive amount of violence. We are talking literal heads rolling violence, but it was not in bad taste considering the story. The only slight downside was there were a few scenes that seemed to drag on, but the action made up for it.

The acting was extremely enjoyable. We had class A actors who have embodied their characters for many years. This is the movie they have been waiting for to really bring them to life in the end of their run. The introduction of new comer Dafne Keen who played Laura was great. She almost stole the whole movie away from Hugh Jackman. With the two great actors she worked with and could learn from, it is no wonder that she could do nothing else but shine. There were a couple of corny villain actors in my opinion, and I am not sure if that is just a bit of a throwback to the origin of the movie franchise. However, it wasn't enough to ruin the movie but just enough to be slightly noticeable.

Overall, the acting was phenomenal with many great moments throughout the movie. One of the very few things I might have changed about this would be making it a little less cheesy in some parts, but other than that, it was the best X-men movie I have seen. And because of this I would rate this movie 9.2/10.

Movie Review: The LEGO Batman Movie

Before I begin, I would like to say that I do realise this came out a month later than it should have. I was busy with some school stuff and I didn't have full access to the computer to work on it. I have decided not to change some things written down, but with so much time I had to think, some stuff did change from what I had first. But other than this, I hope you enjoy the review.

This weeks movie is a nice light way to spend the weekend after the thrilling film festival I reviewed last. In true LEGO fashion, this Batman movie looks to be a lot of fun and nothing too serious. The kid in me that used to play with LEGO is excited to see it come alive on screen. Lets see if it can live up to the hype of what's to come.

The movie starts out with the usual opening credits, but with a twist. Batman (Voiced by Will Arnett) making comments and narrating in his own way through the whole thing. As we see Gotham City come into focus and a plane flying over head. It turns out two friends are transporting an obscene amount of explosive materials while Joker (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) and his crew of all the super villains are trying to hijack it. There is a ton of crazy things going on which include a bomb being set under the city so Commissioner Jim Gordan (Voiced by Hector Elizando) turns on the bat signal only to find it has been egged. All hope seems to be lost and so Mayor McCaskill (Voiced by Mariah Carey) gets air lifted to the central core of the city to surrender it to Joker and his gang.

As all the villains gather round to witness their victory, Mayor McCaskill strips down to reveal that she was actually Batman in disguise. He gets to work single handedly taking down all of the criminals and even stops the bomb under the city from destroying it. The citizens all cheer and Batman returns home to his island where he gets to enjoy his Batcave with left over lobster and watching Jerry Maguire on the screen alone.

The entire plot of the movie is a satire on the Batman franchise and Will Arnett does a great job bringing that to life. As Batman goes through a self discovery journey to recognize his weakness and change, there are so many references to previous movies and TV shows that you can't help but laugh. The way it mocks itself reminds me of Deadpool, only kid friendly. The only thing that might be a downside is that some of the jokes seem to require knowledge of all the previous versions of Batman, which most kids will not get, but will probably work for a lot of the adult audience. Do not attend this movie looking for any type of serious note in relation to the Batman universe, though.

The voice acting is richly entertaining. Will Arnett does a great job doing the gravelly voice people have come to expect with the character, but in such a way that you just can't take it seriously. The supporting characters also are brilliantly brought to life with a few standouts being Michael Cera as Robin, Rosario Dawson as Batgirl, and Ralph Fiennes as Alfred. But the great banter between Batman and Zach Galifianakis' Joker was fantastic. I really have to give props to the writers who gave these voice actors some great lines to work with.

Overall, the voice acting was very well done alongside the story plot. Though it wasn't the best of all the Batman movies, it still did a pretty great job. The animation they did for these LEGO movies is exceptional, however I did lose interest shortly from time to time while watching. And for these reasons I would rate this movie 7.6/10.