Movie Reviews: When It Comes To 'Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods,' Bigger Is Not Better
SHAZAM! WRATH OF THE GODS: 3 STARS
This photo is from Warner Bros. Pictured are Zachary Levy (left) and Helen Mirren in Shazam! From the movie wrath of the gods. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) “Shazam! In 2019, teenager Billy Batson's (Usher Angel) life takes a metaphysical turn when the ancient wizard Djimon Khonsou, guardian of the realm of the Seven Deadly Sins and guardian of the Rock of Eternity, plucks him from the darkness to change. adult superhero Shazam, champion of the world.
In the new Shazam! Set two years after the events of the first Wrath of the Gods movie, Billy is still battling his superhero alter ego (Zachary Levi). "I'm an idiot," he said. "Honestly, I don't deserve this power. For example, what is my contribution? There is already a superhero in a red suit with a lightning bolt on it. Aquaman is really big and very manly. And Batman he is. so great i feel like a fraud.
In this new adventure, Batson and his adopted siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying the magic word Shazam, face off against their worst enemies, the Atlas Girls.
"We are at war," says Hespero (Helen Mirren). "We're going to destroy everything, there's nothing these world champions can do to stop us."
The Daughters of Atlas plan to overthrow the Shazam gang, but when they do, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. "You are very scary," Shazam told Hesperi. "I just want you to know."
Essentially, Shazam! Wrath of the Gods is a coming of age story. Billy begins the film as a victim of self-doubt, impostor syndrome. Unfortunately, with growing confidence comes the film's tendency to fill the screen with wild CGI, piles of mythical terrain, and not-so-subtle product placement. (They even managed to find a way to work in Skittles' "Feel the Rainbow.")
The best elements of the first film are here. The focus on family - finding your logic when you're not biological - the humor - and son Levi's performance as the main character - give the film substance, but the effort to make the sequel bigger and better is more organic and entertaining. parts. history.
Helen Mirren channeling her inner Shakespearean villain as Hesperia is great, and some of the Ray Harryhausen-inspired creatures have the cool charm of Filmland's retro cult monsters, but overall, Shazam! Anger. God, "bigger does not mean better.
BOSTON STRANGLER: 3 ½ stars
Disney+ dives into true crime with one of the most notorious serial killers of the 1960s.
Between June 14, 1962 and January 4, 1964, thirteen unmarried women between the ages of 19 and 85 were sexually assaulted in their apartment before being strangled with clothing.
The so-called "Silk Stocking Murders" baffled the police until reporters Loretta McLaughlin (Kierra Knightley) and Gene Cole (Carrie Coon) linked themselves to the murders and named the killer the Boston Stranglers. "This city is glamorous, exciting, for some, thriving," says the radio reporter. "Only recently has it become dangerous."
When we first meet McLaughlin, he's an ambitious Record-American newspaper reporter stuck behind a lifestyle desk. His suggestions about the brutal news, including one in three elderly victims of the mystery killer, were abandoned.
"I'm not interested," says editor Jack McLane (Chris Cooper). - It's nobody.
When McLaughlin offered to work on the story in his spare time, McLain declined, but added, "You're still at the lifestyle table."
When a mysterious killer strikes, McLaughlin hires Cole, one of the few non-Lifetime female reporters, to expand the investigation. Together, they face the blue walls of police silence, sexism in the newsroom, and the very real threat of violence from the men they help expose.
The Boston Strangler is a period piece that works on several levels. First of all, it is a journalistic procedure called "He Said" or "Spotlight" according to journalists and their investigations.
Unlike Boston Strangler, the big-screen version of Tony Curtis' 1968 police chase story, this is a chase story. McLaughlin and Cole methodically argue that these crimes are connected and likely committed by the same person. While they focus on the suspect, despite the very real threat to their safety, they are prompted by a knock on the door and the urge to go into the field for work.
Equally important is the portrait of workplace culture painted by women in newsrooms. The rampant sexism of the time, both inside and outside the newsroom, showed that these two women not only lacked the skills to cover the story, but were emotionally unprepared to participate. McLaughlin and Cole created a real-life time when most women in newsrooms were relegated to light news, advice columns, or buying coffee for their editors.
In a good show, Knightley and Coon embody the finesse required to break through the glass ceiling and uncover the story of the Boston Strangler. McLaughlin defied the gender norms of the 1960s to create the future she wanted for herself, both professionally and personally. Kuhn, who has been in the newsroom since he was 18, is passionate and funny with a sharp mind.
Despite some gruesome scenes and depictions of the victims, the film wisely focuses on McLaughlin and Cole rather than the gruesome details of the crime. Unlike "Damera - Monster".
Given the popularity of true crimes, the murderous aspect of The Boston Strangler is important, but the story explores the importance of journalism to get to the bottom of the truth, and the brave reporters who do so regardless of the consequences.
BROTHERS: 3 ½ stars
"Brother," The Wire's coming-of-age tale now in theaters, weaves together three timelines to create a vivid portrait of memory, regret, and grief.
Based on David Chariandi's novel of the same name and adapted from Virgin, Brother is the story of Francis (Aaron Pierre), the son of Jamaican immigrants, and his younger brother Michael (Lamar Johnson) growing up in Scarborough, Ontario. Budding music producer, Athletic Francis, exudes confidence. He was Michael's surrogate father and despite the fact that he dropped out of high school, he was his role model and guardian angel.
But even with Francis by his side, Michael is overwhelmed by the police actions and the gang violence that has gripped the neighborhood. Accidental shootings are common, and once a stray bullet even hit the wall of a nearby apartment, killing an innocent child.
On their way to adulthood, the siblings are connected to their family, but choose different paths.
Brother's parallel story, told in a fractured timeline, is expertly handled by Virgo. Bringing together different time periods to create a vivid portrait of the lives of these two young men and the pressures that shaped their identities.
As adults, the two main characters are played by British actor Aaron Pierre, who shows real vulnerability as the tough Francis, and Lamar Johnson as his younger brother Michael, who finds it difficult to live in his older brother's shadow. .
It is the story of their struggle to live up to expectations, but more importantly, it tells the story of sacrifices in the struggle. Disappointment darkens the character of the Franciscan, and as he becomes even more unpredictable, Pierre deftly shows that his risk-taking is a symptom of a broken dream and a broken heart.
Deva's deft and elegant direction enhances the film's central theme, creating a richly textured world in which the characters inhabit. The streets and suburbs that embody Michael's menace are drawn beautifully, atmospherically and poetically. It is this juxtaposition that gives "Brother" its layered and complex thematic feel.
A good show, Brother, takes great music, from the singing of Nina Simone to Jacques Brel, reggae and hip-hop, and weaves them together to tell an emotionally compelling story that is both wise and true.
SLEEPING BOY: 3 STARS
Vancouver filmmaker Anthony Shim's new comedy Riceboy Sleeps , now in theaters, is a meditative exploration of the immigrant experience in Canada through the lens of a mother-son relationship.
Set in the 1990s, Choi Seung Yoon plays Seo Yeon, a single mother to Dong Hyun (played by Dohyun Noel Hwan as a child and Ethan Hwan as a teenager) who moves from Korea to Canada after her husband dies. . husband Once in Canada, the good life he hoped for seemed out of reach.
Seo Joon faces discrimination at her factory job, and Dong Hyun is teased at school because her lunch is different from the sandwiches in everyone else's lunchboxes. His teacher even called him David because he couldn't pronounce Dong Hyun correctly.
Their life is not easy. Trying to adjust to his new home, Dong-hyun dyes his hair blonde and wears blue lenses, gets kicked out of school for fighting, and turns to drugs.
Mother and daughter slowly drift apart, but when Seo Joon receives life-changing news, they try to reconnect with each other and their heritage on a trip to Korea.
"Rice Boy Sleeps" veers into melodrama at times, but is particularly effective in portraying the alienation and frustration surrounding Seo-jun and Dong-hyun's new lives. It's the little (and sometimes not so) behaviors that define their interactions with Dong-hyun's many colleagues, doctors, and even teachers. Director Shim deftly presents the cultural claustrophobia in square proportions, unseen before the Korean series.
Natural performances are especially effective in intimate moments of the film. The scene where Seo Joon tries to use a Korean-English dictionary to understand her cancer diagnosis is frustrating and tragic, yet heartbreaking.
Ultimately, what makes Rice Boy Sleeps so effective is the film's central relationship, that of a mother and daughter.
