“Creed II” (Sports Drama: 2 hours, 10 minutes)

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Florian Munteanu and Dolph Lundgren

Director: Steven Caple Jr.

Rated: PG-13 (Sports violence, sensuality and strong language)

 

Movie Review: A good concept of the “Rocky” and “Creed” screenplays is they continue to reinvent stories and characters. The sequel to “Creed” (2015) and the eighth installment in the “Rocky” film series is penned by Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor. 

“Creed II” manages to make its characters intriguing again. A dynamic sports drama, it has one cheering for the protagonists still, even if the movies apply a similar formula.

Adonis Creed (Jordan), with former boxing champ Rocky Balboa (Stallone) as his trainer, competes against Viktor Drago (Munteanu), son of Ivan Drago (Lundgren), the man who killed Adonis’ father, Apollo Creed, decades ago in the ring. 

Adonis and Rocky face their pasts while facing their Russian foe. Adonis and Rocky must also think of their families while contemplating their love of the sport, boxing.

With just one full-length movie on his resume, “The Land” (2016), Steven Caple Jr. directs the movie. He does well. He makes the boxing matches energetic and captivating. The boxing matches, especially those in the final scene, have one cheering for Adonis again.

At the heart of “Rocky,” and now “Creed,” good characterizations exist. Moviegoers continue to observe these on-screen people because they present humanity at its best. The species does not surrender to obstacles. 

Michael B. Jordan is solid as lead actor. He portrays angst well. He has a certain cockiness that works well in this role. His scenes with Sylvester Stallone are nice moments in cinema. Their father-son relationship moments are moving scenes. Also, Jordan’s scenes with a talented Tessa Thompson are down to earth.

Stallone has been playing Rocky in movies since 1976 with the first “Rocky” (Director John G. Avildsen). He kept the character fresh, playing him as a younger boxer and a now an older mentor. Rocky Balboa has grown and changed through the years. Audiences have come along for the changes and growth. Stallone is still writing good concepts for Rocky.

“Creed II” continues good moviemaking for a franchise older than about half the moviegoers. With an addition like this, the sports drama is still strong, indicating the series has plenty of life left to explore.

Grade: B+ (The winner by knockout and still the undisputed champion.)

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” (Animation/Comedy: 1 hour, 52 minutes)

Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch

Directors: Phil Johnston and Rich Moore

Rated: PG (Violence and rude humor)

 

Movie Review: “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is the sequel to “Wreck-It Ralph” (Rich Moore, 2012). It is good entertainment for the entire family. It rivals its prequel with a bigger story and grander adventure. 

Wreck It Ralph (Reilly), a video-game bad guy who turned good guy, and best friend Vanellope von Schweetz (Silverman) leave Litwak’s arcade to save Sugar Rush, Vanellope’s game. 

To solve their problem, they venture into the realm of the internet. There, they find plenty of new friends, and Vanellope finds a place where she belongs, a violently unpredictable racecar game called Slaughter Race.

Think of “Ralph Breaks the Internet” as a mix of “TRON” (1982) and “Ready Player One” (2018). It nicely combines characters from several video games, princesses from the Disney movies and social-media platforms. The result is an entertaining movie with multiple brand names creating tremendous amounts of eye candy. 

Comedy is at the center of the animated feature with a background of nice visuals. Ralph and Vanellope are one of the best movie couplings. Reilly and Silverman voice the characters well. They and others make this movie an enjoyable adventure easily enjoyed by all audiences.

Grade: B+ (This animated movie is a nice diversion from the internet.)

“Robin Hood” (Action/Adventure: 1 hour, 56 minutes)

Starring: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx and Ben Mendelsohn

Director: Otto Bathurst

Rated: PG-13 (Violence and suggestive references)

 

Movie Review: “Robin Hood” is an old tale. 

The latest version tries to reinvent it by modernizing it. Instead, it only offers action and great amounts of visual effects. It is as entertaining as it is uninspiring. 

Lord Robin of Loxley (Egerton) goes to fight as a Christian during the Crusades. After four years, he returns home to find his estate in shambles and Marian (Eve Hewson) has married another man, Will Scarlet (Jamie Dornan). 

Even more, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Mendelsohn) is ruling Nottingham with an iron fist. John, a Muslim, trains Robin to be a better warrior, especially with a bow and arrow. 

A number of scenes appear a mere justification to criticize Christianity. Other than Tim Minchin’s Friar Tuck, the most decent character in the movie, the other religious people are portrayed as charlatans. The movie also boasts anti-religious statements. 

The movie tries to make a statement or create humorous moments with these scenes. They fail at both.

The scenes are just part of a poorly written screenplay that uses action scenes to distract. The action scenes are entertaining, yet the story is irritatingly messy.

Characters are also cookie-cutter roles. They are predictable and thinly developed. The movie is entertaining, mainly because the stunts and antics of characters are like a train wreck where one cannot turn away.

Mainly a television director, Otto Bathurst directs the movie as if it is a teleplay and a screenplay. “Robin Hood” concludes with an open ending, as if a cliffhanger episode. If only this were a television series, one could turn to another channel.

Grade: C- (Robin Hood robs from audiences to give money to rich producers.)

“Green Book” (Drama: 2 hours, 10 minutes)

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, and Linda Cardellini

Director: Peter Farrelly

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic content, profanity including racial epithets, violence and suggestive material)

 

Movie Review: “Negro Motorist Green Book” was published from 1936-66. 

It indicated safe places for African-American motorists to stay while traveling. The movie’s title uses that book’s name. “Green Book” nicely promotes a real-life friendship between two unlikely people that is an engagingly good and inspiring photoplay. 

Set in the 1960s, Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Mortensen), an Italian-American bouncer, takes a new job. He decides to be a driver for Dr. Don Shirley (Ali), an African-American and noted pianist. They travel across the United States, mainly in the Deep South during the Jim Crow Era, encountering racism, classism and each other’s behaviors. 

Along the way, they become friends.

Writers Nick Vallelonga, Tony Lip’s son, Peter Farrelly and Brian Currie make this an enjoyable movie. It manages to have heart and humor despite the dangers and biases the men face. 

Although Tony Lip and Dr. Shirley traveled to 48 states and Canada during their road trips together, the writers explore just a slice of their travels and friendship.

Their writing and the nice direction of Peter Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary,” 1998) creates a movie everyone can enjoy. The movie’s only pitfall is it often wanders into the realm of comedy, which mutes some of the harsh encounters while traveling in the South. 

However, the comedy negates the downing scenes and moments of modern political correctness in disguise. That is a plus.

The camaraderie of Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali playing opposite of the other is beautiful. Predictably, one knows they become friends, but the movie also provides a few other unknowns that make it worth it. 

Tony Lip and Dr. Shirley are interesting men. They are a mix of “The Odd Couple” (1968) and “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989), and the result is a solid story made good entertainment.

Grade: B+ (A traveling duo provides a uniquely inspiring friendship movie.)

*playing in larger cities

“Boy Erased” (Drama: 1 hour, 54 minutes)

Starring: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Troye Sivan and Joel Edgerton

Director: Joel Edgerton

Rated: R (Violence, sexual content including an assault, strong language and brief drug use)

 

Movie Review: “Boy Erased” is an adaptation on the 2016 memoir by Garrard Conley. Director-writer Joel Edgerton helms the screenplay as well as being one of its stars. Edgerton is a keen developer of characters, using their actions to develop their overall appeal as an onscreen persona slowly. 

He does similar things in “Boy Erased,” a potent narrative with an exacting authenticity. 

After being outed as gay, Jared (Hedges) confronts his fundamentalist Baptist parents, Marshall Eamons (Crowe), a successful car dealer and Baptist preacher, and Nancy Eamons (Nicole Kidman). 

To combat their son’s homosexuality, the Eamons enroll him in a controversial church-supported conversion therapy under the auspices of chief therapist Victor Sykes (Edgerton). 

Sykes and his team claim homosexual behavior is a choice and promise to make Jared heterosexual. While in the conversion program, Jared faces many obstacles, including mental abuse at the hands of several staff members.

The drama thrives because of great performances by Hedges, Kidman, Crowe and Edgerton. Hedges holds his own with actors double his age. He is a talented young man destined for an Oscar someday, preferably soon. He earned a nomination for “Manchester by the Sea,” 2016. 

Kidman and Russell, both Australians, are well-matched actors to play a married couple.

Secondary actors such as singer Troye Sivan, musician Flea, Joe Alwyn, Britton Sear and Théodore Pellerin are also good. The cast members make their roles tangible characterizations. They give viewers a reason to care for their causes, whether or not one agrees with their intentions. 

Edgerton’s directing style is good. However, his writing style could use some adjustments. Some scenes appear out of place or not in the correct sequential order. Otherwise, Edgerton and the cast create a beautifully acted and well-intentioned screenplay.

Grade: B+ (Boy, it is a good drama.)

*playing in larger cities

“The Front Runner” (Drama: 1 hour, 53 minutes)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons and Alfred Molina

Director: Jason Reitman

Rated: R (Profanity and sexual references)

 

Movie Review: “The Front Runner” gives audiences an up-close, sideline view of politics. It chronicles the last three weeks of Sen. Gary Hart’s presidential campaign in May 1987. 

The movie has an interesting candidate, but the screenplay makes him repetitively boring because it merely focuses on his campaign while making its subject, Gary Hart, and those around him unexciting. 

Hart (Jackman) of Colorado is the perceived front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987. He has all the makings of a president: the hair, a good smile, intelligence and a good message. 

In just three weeks, his charisma and energy flatline when allegations of extramarital affairs surface from multiple media outlets. Hart’s campaign for the presidency fades.

Based on Matt Bai’s 2014 book, “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid,” “The Front Runner” appears a mild political footnote compared to politics in the 1990s and the present. 

Bai, Jason Reitman and Jay Carson’s screenplay is quaint politics that never quite allows one to get to know the real-life people portrayed.

Reitman has directed better movies where he easily lets one get to know his characters. “Juno” (2007) and “Up in the Air” (2009) are prime examples.

“The Front Runner” takes a talented Hugh Jackman and others of the cast and waters them down. The movie is a run down of the campaign’s moments, good and bad, but never really allows one to care about the people involved.

Grade: C+ (The front runner falls to second place.)

*playing in larger cities

“The Possession of Hannah Grace” (Horror/Suspense: 1 hour, 26 minutes)

Starring: Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson

Director: Diederik Van Rooijen

Rated: R (Gory images, violence and terror throughout)

 

Movie Review: A second-rate horror, it tries to put a new spin on the possession of a young woman formula. 

The horror concentrates more on another character, one tormented by a demonic spirit inhabiting Hannah Grace. Yet, the same clichés exist.

Megan Reed (Mitchell) is a former cop fresh out of rehab. She works as an attendant at a hospital morgue during the graveyard shift. One night, the disfigured body of a young woman arrives. 

As Reed examines the body identified as Hannah Grace (Johnson), strange occurrences happen.

Dutch director Diederik Van Rooijen and writer Brian Sieve provide audiences an unintelligible script. The story has plenty of unanswered questions, especially regarding the uneven character actions.

Grade: C- (She possesses your money and she does not return it.)