Adann-Kennn Alexxandar

“The Phoenician Scheme”
(Comedy/Adventure: 1 hour, 41 minutes) 

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera 

Director: Wes Anderson

Rated: R (Violent content, bloody images, sexual material, nude images and language)

Movie Review:

“The Phoenician Scheme” is another tale with famed director Wes Anderson’s charm tactics. His usual wacky characterizations and visually artistic narrative signature are present. However, his movies are beginning to become a contiguous continuation.

This outing, Zsa-zsa Korda (the seasoned Del Toro) is a very wealthy man who keeps surviving airplane crashes. Turns out, several hitmen pursue him, many of whom are people Korda once employed. Korda is the father of nine boys and a daughter, Lisel (Threapleton), who is the eldest child and a nun. Korda has told her that he is making her the sole heir to his entire estate, fearing he will meet an early demise. Then, Korda embarks on a new business adventure with Lisel and Bjørn Lund (Cera), a Norwegian entomologist whom Korda employs to tutor him about insects.

Numerous concepts in this dark comedy feel cyclical, another collaboration of Anderson and Roman Coppola. Humor is the main repetitiveness. This aspect of the movie is boring.

While “The Phoenician Scheme” has some clever elements and the cast does a good job performing their characters, the overall experience is familiar territory. Anderson applies many of the same antics from previous films, except this screenplay is more violent. He also uses many of the same actors from previous movies, such as Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Willem Dafoe, Jeffrey Wright and Bill Murray. Combine those elements with the fact that his stories all have a familiar format, and audiences get the familiar movie again.

Grade: C+ (Schemes are interesting, but the place is only so-so.)

 

“Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye”
(Anime/Action: 1 hour, 33 minutes) 

Starring: Natsuki Hanae, Morgana Ignis and Mayumi Tanaka 

Directors: Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Gongora

Rated: R (Violent content, sexual innuendo and strong language)

Movie Review:

“Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye” is a Japanese anime feature. It is an hour and 12 minutes theatrical premiere of the first three episodes of season two of “Dan Da Dan.” Although advertised as an hour and 33 minutes, approximately eight minutes are spent recapping what happened in the first season for this series, and another 13 minutes are taken up with the director’s take on making this movie and their venture to take audiences into the second season.

Much is squeezed into a runtime of 72 minutes. Minus the extra material at the beginning and end, the story is interesting.

Why directors and movie-making individuals feel they need to give their take on how they make the movie is annoying. They should want to keep their audiences invested in the movie, not provide audiences with something that takes them out of the story.

“Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye” has some interesting concepts in it, but the producers of this animated feature water it down. They make it just an advertisement for the broadcast series when it has merit as a stand-alone photoplay.  

Grade: C+ (At least, the title has a musical nature.)

 

“Dangerous Animals”
(Thriller: 1 hour, 39 minutes) 

Starring: Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney and Josh Heuston  

Director: Sean Byrne

Rated: R (Strong bloody violent content/grisly images, sexuality, strong language and brief drug use.)

Movie Review:

Shark attacks worldwide are usually fewer than 100. In many of these attacks, people provoke the sharks, proving people should never play with anything with a mouth bigger than theirs. However, the deadliest animals are mosquitoes, followed by humans, snakes, dogs and some other animals. All rank higher than sharks as more deadly to humans. Still, movies about sharks prevail, especially in the horror genre.

“Dangerous Animals” is a thriller, and it offers some of them. Think of this movie as “Jaws” (1982) meets “Dead Calm” (1989). “Dangerous Animals” features two things that scare people in screenplays: serial killers and hungry sharks.

Heather Zephyr (Harrison) is a young surfer living out of the back of her makeshift auto home. She encounters Moses Markley (Heuston), a real estate developer. The two look for instant connection, but Heather disappears the next day. Enter Bruce Tucker (Courtney), zealous shark enthusiast and serial killer. He likes filming sharks attacking people, and Zephyr is his latest star.

This thriller offers plenty for a small-time production feel. However, director Sean Byrne (“The Loved Ones,” 2009) and his team do not make the moments as potent as they could be to create anxiety for viewers. No emotive attachment exists for these characters, so this movie only becomes a survival screenplay rather than the horror producers wanted.

Grade: B- (Interestingly enticing although the animals could be more predatorial.)