Movie Reviews: 'Strays' Is A Deeply Silly Movie That Fully Embraces Its Extreme Side
crazy 3 ½ stars
If you've seen the trailer for the new comedy Tramp starring adorable dogs and the voices of Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, you know what to expect.
If you haven't seen the trailer, think of it as an animal journey movie like The Incredibles minus the usual bits. Or maybe just Snoop Dogg's version of Milo and Otis Adventures.
Ferrell believes in Reggie's border terrier. All he has to do is put up with Doug's (Will Forte) abusive owner's dog as his girlfriend picks him up from the local general store. Good-natured Reggie calls Doug "the best host in the world," even though his heist game involves ambushing Reggie far from home.
When the girl leaves, Doug wants Reggie to leave. Three hours away from home, he leaves the unexpected dog alone and does not like it on the road. But Reggie doesn't realize he's been left out. He believes they will play another game the distance and is determined to get back to Doug and win the game.
The problem is despair. The dog is lost.
Along the way, Reggie meets Buggy, a traveling Boston terrier, an Australian shepherd named Maggie (Isla Fisher), and a canine therapist named Hunter (Randall Park). Bugs don't trust people. Abandoned, he believes people are collecting dog poop to make chocolate.
Reggie's new friends convince him that Doug has dumped him. "Believe me, my son," said the beetle, "he left your ass." "That means Doug doesn't love me," Reggie muttered in disbelief.
With his world turned upside down, Reiji vows to avenge his former master.
"You're stupid," says Bug. "You can do whatever you want."
I think it's safe to say that The Tramps is the most charming yet most disgusting film of the year. Reggie and his friends are four cute dogs, but the film's gags and chain situations, especially the gagging, vomiting and dog sex, are hilarious. This is a coming-of-age story where Reggie learns from his new friends that they are all valuable. This is a great laugh-out-loud post for those with a good sense of humor.
Like Reggie, Ferrell taps into the naivete of the elven age. The gentle border terrier is an innocent, wide-eyed individual who does not know the basics of the world. He sees the good in everyone, including his hated master, Doug. He's a sweet orphan, so the fantasy approach of a revenge movie fits, but the real appeal here is his open worldview.
Ferrell gets a lot of support from Reggie's new friends. Fisher and Park make a flirtatious and often awkward duo, but Foxx's humor adds a comedic edge. Throw in Dennis Quaid's quirky character and plenty of shocking moments, and you have a dog movie unlike any other.
Stray is not me and Marley. This is a very silly movie that fully shows his extreme side. There's something funny about watching these cute dogs do horrible things, and while the humor may not be true, the message that we need to be kind to animals or they might do horrible things to us is a good one.
Blue beetle. 3 stars
It seems to be an unspoken rule that the best superheroes come from troubled families. Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents brutally murdered, Spider-Man was orphaned at a young age, and Superman was banished from his home planet of Krypton, never knowing his parents. The DC superhero movie Blue Beetle, now in theaters, breaks with tradition.
"My family, it makes me strong," said Jaime Reyes, also known as Blue Beetle.
When we meet Reyes, played by Cobra Kai star Xolo Mariduena, he's a recent college graduate looking for a job. Back home in Palmera, his family is struggling financially and Haim wants to help.
A job search connects him to an ancient alien artifact called a scarab that my mother carried in 1978. Thanks to the fusion, Jaime and Scarab now have shiny blue armor and powerful abilities like space travel, weapon display, and more.
Uncle Rudy Reyes (Jorge Lopez) says: "The universe sent you a gift and you have to figure out what to do with it. Maybe this time we'll have our own hero.
The problem is, Jamie doesn't want to be a superhero, even though he was chosen by the Beetle. "How can I prove that he didn't choose me?" he asks.
Victoria Cord (Susan Sarandon), the super-villain CEO of Cord Industries, understands Jaime Beetle and Blue Beetle's power and knows how to control it.
"Target the Reyes Family!" He says.
Blue Beetle made history as DC's first Spanish-language superhero movie, but its coolness was surpassed by the usual superhero scandal. The focus on family gives the film a sweet feel that sets it apart from other DC films, but the strength that Jaime derives from his family and culture doesn't really strengthen the plot as a whole. This is still a superhero origin story. That means overloaded with details, exposure, and conventional knowledge, achievements, and techniques.
While it tries to grapple with themes of alienation, resistance, and even a bit of physical shock built into the story, even those elements are overshadowed by the explosion that accompanies them.
Mariduña is a series of computer noises and action scenes with a lot of charm and a "cursed" feel that justifies its mentality. For comic relief, Lopez gets a few laughs and Sarandon is gloriously mischievous as the billionaire villain, but that's Mariduena's show.
Culturally, Blue Beetle broke new ground in depicting Latin American culture, but it still holds its own as a superhero movie.
Monkey King: 3 stars
The Monkey King is a story about ego and ambition, acceptance and insecurity. The Monkey King is a new Netflix animated film starring comedians Jimmy O'Young and Bowen Young.
Based on the 16th century Ming Dynasty Chinese novel Wu Cheng'en, the film revolves around a monkey (Jimmy O Yang) born from a magical rock. His ego is filled with inflated self-esteem and alienates him from friends and family.
"An old man once told me, 'You are not here,'" he says. "And he was right, I'm immortal, I'll be a legend, and then they'll accept me."
The problem is that he needs to defeat at least 100 demons in order to attract the attention of the immortals led by the Jade Emperor (Hong Li).
"Come, hundred devils," he says.
His eldest son (James S.) said, "Son, know your place," but the proud veteran said, "Does anybody need a hero?"
On his journey to immortality, he battles the treacherous Dragon King (Bowen Yang), Red Girl (Sophie Wu), discovers his powerful staff, and reunites with his loyal (but underrated) friend Lin (Jolie Hong). report). ) )
"Whatever the Monkey King does," he says, "I do big."
The Monkey King is an amazing lightning-fast action-adventure packed with brutal fight scenes and funny jokes. But at its core, this story is about finding family, acceptance and belonging. The main character has to fight literal and personal demons to alleviate his feelings of isolation from his peers who don't accept him for who he is. While the film's relentless pace threatens to overwhelm its message, it forms the film's emotional core. A film made up of peaks and very few valleys, it deserves a minute or two of introspection. The more candid scenes between the Monkey King and Lin tone down the action but add to the emotional impact.
The story is serialized, and while it features characters from the Ming Dynasty, it's a bit over the top in its animation style. Director Anthony Stachi combines classic CGI art with hints of traditional Chinese painting, stunning animation and production design, some fun Broadway-style musical numbers, and voice actors to bring the characters to life. , but that's all. Everything is reminiscent of similar films, such as "Emperor's New Rhythm".
Monkey King offers laughs and jokes for a mostly young audience and good acting and fun martial arts scenes, but offers very little news to repeat the same old story.
Return to Trips: 2 ½ stars
In the new comedy Back to the Strip, Wesley Snipes, Faizon Love and JB Smoove, the Las Vegas Killers return to the stage after a long hiatus. .
That is not the case at all.
In this Full Monty, Tiffany Haddish stars as Merlin's free-spirited mother Verna, a magical dreamer whose life is turned upside down when she crushes her high school bully Robin (Ragan Harris). He announces their marriage. "Michael Jordan Comedy" online prankster Blaze (Ryan Alexander Holmes).
Heartbroken, he heads to Las Vegas, hoping to find work as a magician. During an impromptu magic concert at the Peace Club, Merlin accidentally pulls something from his pants instead of a rabbit from his hat. Just when he was thinking of reuniting his old gang, the Chocolate Chips, the leader of the infamous black gang that Luther called “Mr. Big” (Snipes) captures his eye for surprising moments.
Desperate to perform, Merlin reluctantly joins the dance troupe and keeps it a secret from Verna and Robin.
"Now the big deal with the man in front," Luther introduced Merlin. "I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about your future... Mr. Black Magic!"
Merlin's life gets complicated when Blaze decides to publicly embarrass her and leave Robin alone. Will Merlin finally learn to do things his way? Will it grow up or go home?
Back to the Strip is not a thin film. From Haddish's cheeky jokes to her predictable storylines, it's clear that writer/director Chris Spence (and co-writer Eric Daniels) won't be reinventing the wheel of cheeky comedy. It's as if Spencer turned to the improv dictionary when writing Haddish's speech, a mixture of bittersweet romance and freedom. The only remarkable thing about the film is how much the script is accompanied by profanity.
The benevolent actor comes with a lot of collective charm. Smuv excels in delivering much-needed surprises to every scene.
Unfortunately, the emotional scenes between Merlin and Robin become soul-crushingly dull due to the script's projection. We know what's going to happen in this movie before it actually happens, and we don't need Haddish's constant, descriptive narration to tell us what's going on.
Simply put, there is no Mike magic in Back on the Strip.
