“Adrift” (Drama: 1 hour, 36 minutes)

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin and Grace Palmer

Director: Baltasar Kormákur

Rated: PG-13 (Profanity, nudity, gore, peril, drug use and thematic elements)

Movie Review: Tami Oldham Ashcraft’s book, “Sky in Mourning: The True Story of Love, Loss and Survival at Sea,” is the basis for this screenplay. The movie chronicles her life at sea and love with Richard Sharp. 

It is an interesting tale based on real-life events but the romance appears forced and flashbacks interfere with the story directed by Baltasar Kormákur (“The Sea,” 2002, and “2 Guns,” 2013).

Oldman (Woodley) and Sharp (Claflin) are a young couple sailing around the world. Their voyage is a romantic sea venture. That all changes when they encounter one of the most catastrophic hurricanes recorded.

Woodley and Claflin are amiable actors, but they lack chemistry here. It is not their fault. It is that of several screenplay writers who appear to have each written different parts of the same movie without making the scenes appear they are always in the same movie. 

The script jumps back and forth between the couple’s romantic moments and their encounter with a tragic hurricane. The romantic moments are less than par. The sea scenes during and after the hurricane are the more interesting moments. This is mainly because of the ability of Woodley, who serves as a producer, to carry the movie.

Grade: C+ (At sea moments are intriguing, yet the rest of the movie is adrift.)

“Upgrade” (Action/Horror: 1 hour, 35 minutes)

Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Simon Maiden and Richard Anastasios

Director: Leigh Whannell

Rated: R (Strong violence, gore and profanity)

Movie Review: “Upgrade” is good, entertaining science-fiction. It has action and a smartly crafted screenplay by Leigh Whannell, his second movie as a director following “Insidious: Chapter 3” (2015). This smart production is technology mixed with superb actions scenes.

Grey Trace (Marshall-Green) does not trust technology. After a brutal attack where his wife is murdered, Grey is left for dead and awakes a quadriplegic. Despite his technophobia and the urging of tech billionaire Eron Keen (Gilbertson), he agrees to have an experimental, artificial intelligence chip implant called Stem attached to his upper spinal cord. 

Stem (voice of Maiden) gives Grey superior physical abilities. Grey uses Stem to find his wife’s murderers, dispensing vengeance with an exacting prejudice while being pursued aggressively by Detective Cortez (Gabriel).

Whannell’s screenplay is brilliant mostly, nicely drawing audiences with ease. Set in the near future, it is a crime, action and horror movie simultaneously. It is solid entertainment for people wanting something different. However, if graphic violence is not your preference, still go and just cover your eyes for the violent scenes.

Some iffy moments exist near the end that distract. Some story elements are not clear as being possible. Even more, Whannel rushes the last few minutes.

Still, “Upgrade” is a thrilling science-fiction and action. It offers an innovative narrative worth exploring.

Grade: B (Man versus machine equals upgraded entertainment.)

“Action Point” (Comedy: 1 hour, 25 minutes)

Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Eleanor Worthington-Cox and Chris Pontius

Director: Tim Kirkby

Rated: R (Profanity, violence, thematic elements, nudity and sexual content)

Movie Review:

If one has seen any of the “Jackass” movies or “Bad Grandpa (2013), “Action Point” is those movies combined. It is adolescent material. The story is childish, and the characters are wayward personas that appear as goofy clowns.

D.C. Carver (Knoxville) is a daredevil who operates an amusement park. To get more visitors, he removes the safety features from the rides to make the park more thrilling. Meanwhile, he faces threats from his snobby competitor, state inspectors and his teenage daughter (Worthington-Cox) when she comes to visit him. She is becoming a woman, and Carver is not ready for that as a father. 

Tim Kirkby, mainly a television director, directs this movie as if it is a sitcom. Minor comedy and immature hijinks are present. In the interim, the acting is lackluster, and the story is only a reason to involve Knoxville playing stuntman again.

Grade: D (Action pointless)