“Captain America: Brave New World”

(Action: 1 hour, 58 minutes)

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford and Danny Ramirez

Director: Julius Onah

Rated: PG-13 (Intense sequences of violence and action, and strong language.)

Movie Review:

“Captain America: Brave New World” continues with Sam Wilson, well played by Anthony Mackie as the new Captain America. Mackie brings a new sense of coolness to the legendary character. This movie is good entertainment, but it feels very stereotypical Marvel and similar to “Captain America: Civil War” (2016).

Captain America is summoned to the White House to meet President Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford). Ross was a high-ranking military general and former Secretary of State who pursued Dr. Bruce Banner and his alter ego The Incredible Hulk relentlessly. President Ross hopes to begin a new era of international alliances. However, an internal threat poses an even greater danger as the world hangs on the brink of war.

“Brave New World” entertains, especially after it surpasses the first 20 minutes. However, the plot is bloated material which is typical. The best is watching Captain America, The Falcon (played energetically by Danny Ramirez) and the president’s chief of security Sabra (Shira Haas), a woman of petite stature but deadly, unravel a major mystery.

Otherwise, this superhero story tries to impress with multiple surprise elements. Plenty of action is also present without intelligent execution by writers, although director Julius Onah (“Luce,” 2019) proves he is able. Chronically, it is what one has come to expect with Marvel popcorn movies.

Grade: B- (Amusing but not as brave or new as one expects.)

“Paddington in Peru”

(Family Adventure/Mystery: 1 hour, 46 minutes)

Starring: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas and Olivia Colman

Director: Dougal Wilson

Rated: PG (Action and violence, rude humor and thematic elements)

Movie Review:

“Paddington in Peru,” while not as endearing as the previous two movies directed by Paul King in 2014 and 2017, is more adventurous. Although it packs in more than needed, it remains enjoyable enough that parents and their small fries should appreciate equally.

It follows Paddington (voice of Whishaw) and the rest of The Brown Family to Peru. There, they must find Paddington’s Aunt Lucy (voice of Imelda Staunton) who went missing from a retirement home for bears run by a group of nuns led by Reverend Mother (Colman). The track becomes more perilous when a shady riverboat captain Hunter Cabot (Banderas) agrees to take the brown family deeper into Peru’s jungle to find Aunt Lucy.

Paddington and his adventures remain a worthwhile movie for families. It delivers nice visuals and plenty of adventure with a splash of comedy. These elements should keep the entire family highly interested, even when the moviemakers do not know when to end the movie.

Grade: B- (Paddington still delights even in a Peruvian jungle.)

“You, Me & Her”

(Drama/Comedy: 1 hour, 34 minutes)

Starring: Selina Ringel, Ritesh Rajan and Sydney Park

Director: Dan Levy Dagerman

Rated: R (Sexual content, nudity, drug use and language)

Movie Review:

“You, Me & Her” is a film by husband-wife team director Dan Levy Dagerman and actress and writer Selina Ringel. It is a very adult look at a spousal relationship and the woman who forms a brief intimate relationship with them. This dramedy handles the subject matter in a finessed manner, but the comedic bits dissuade one from the seriousness of what is portrayed.

Ash (Rajan), an Indian-American entrepreneur, and Mags (Ringel), a Latina financial advisor, are married and the parents of a young son Milo. The humdrum of everyday life has caused friction within their marriage. Maggie has a very stressful job where she is constantly under the scrutiny of her father. She manages the couple’s household. Ash operates a cannabis start-up that is struggling. He is a slacker who smokes too much of his company’s products. After the couple goes on a romantic getaway, Ash and Mags meet Angela (Park), a beautiful yoga instructor whom they both find extremely appealing. Angela brings new life to their lukewarm marriage as Ash and Maggie consider a ménage à trois with her.

One must give Ringel credit for tackling a movie about a threesome and making it something that people should take seriously. However, some moments in this movie are slight because they are comical. This is not the writer’s intent, perhaps, yet the comical moments distract and are not good comedic material. Regrettably, Ringel did not make more of an effort and craft something more solid as a cinematic drama.

Grade: C+ (They are intriguing, but three is a crowd.)

“Becoming Led Zeppelin”

(Music Documentary: 2 hours, 02 minutes)

Starring: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones

Director: Bernard MacMahon

Rated: PG-13 (Drug references and smoking.)

Movie Review:

“Becoming Led Zeppelin” is a documentary about the legendary British band. It does so by interviewing the last three remaining members of the band: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. John Bonham, the fourth member of the band, died in 1980, so he is only seen in archival footage that includes some of one rare interview from the year he died. The movie gives each man a chance to explain why they fell in love with music and lyrics and how their home country originally disliked what they offered. The affability of the men is nice, but this documentary takes a while for these icons to become Led Zeppelin.

Chronicling the band’s formation and rise during the 1960s and 1970s, members of Led Zeppelin say they were influenced by people like Little Richard, Scotty Moore and American Blues performers such as Muddy Waters. The movie spends a great deal of time showing how the music and lyrics of others influence Led Zeppelin as well as the men’s interaction with their parents, some of whom did not support their endeavors to enter this form of artistry and entertainment.

Further into the movie, we discover more information about the group itself, including how they got their name. They were initially called the New Yardbirds — probably a good thing they changed this. Audiences also see how they created and crafted their music, drawing from multiple sources of inspiration. One also sees how the group dealt with media outlets that were dismissive and mixed reviews, particularly from rock critics who panned their music. Led Zeppelin kept crafting through it all according to Page, Plant and Jones.

This documentary creates an appreciation of Led Zeppelin’s music. Plus, they tell their story finally, but all appears whitewashed.

This screenplay keeps the focus on their formation while avoiding more tabloid-fascinating material about the men that come with and after their rise. Because of this, the interviews with this well-known group are bland occasionally, so this movie is really for the diehard fans of the group.

Grade: B- (A slow development becomes good.)