“Midnight Sun” (Romance: 1 hour, 31 minutes)

Starring: Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Rob Riggle

Director: Scott Speer

Rated: PG-13 (Sensuality and teen partying)

 

Movie Review: Since “Love Story” (Director Arthur Hiller, 1970), which starred Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal, romances with tragic or somber endings have debuted multiple times. “Midnight Sun” is similar, except it is difficult to feel sympathy for these characters. Typical acting never grabs one fully.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a condition where a person has an extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet sunlight. Katie Price (Thorne) suffers from such a condition, although she does not appear to suffer from anything.

Her life is spent happily watching life pass her by during the day and with her encouraging father, Jack (Riggle). But at night, she spends her time singing and playing music near one of Seattle’s docks.

Her life changes when she meets Charles Reed (Schwarzenegger), a handsome man on whom Katie has had a crush for years. They form a romance but Katie’s illness causes them grief.

Scott Speer (“Step Up Revolution,” 2012) directs “Midnight Sun.” It has an attractive cast but it does not inspire one to be emotive. The acting is not persuasive.

Thorne is bubbly and cute, but she does inspire one to feel for her. Her life appears normal and happy. Patrick Schwarzenegger is the son of the actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though his performance becomes better as the movie continues, Patrick’s acting is mild, and he lacks his father’s gravitas.

Eric Kirsten’s screenplay is an adaption of Kenji Bando’s “Taiyô no uta,” a 2006 Japanese motion picture. Kirsten’s screenplay makes XP graver than it has to be. It is a nice try at romance but it just skims the surface of love.

Grade: C (One waits for the midday moon.)

“Pacific Rim: Uprising” (Science-Fiction/Action: 1 hour, 51 minutes)

Starring: John Boyega, Scott Eastwood and Cailee Spaeny

Director: Steven S. DeKnight

Rated: PG-13 (Violence and language)

 

Movie Review: Godzilla meets Power Rangers is back. This time the screenplay features a young cast. They barely look old enough to drive cars, yet they operate weapons of mass destruction.

It is visually engaging and entertains, but it offers little as a sequel to “Pacific Rim” (Director Guillermo del Toro, 2013).

Jake Pentecost (Boyega), son of legend Jaeger pilot Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Nate Lambert (Eastwood) and others to train rookie Jaeger pilots, including 15-year-old hacker Amara Namani (Spaeny). They fight against evolved Kaiju threats. Their greatest threat may come from within — other humans.

“Uprising” is a story of convenience. Weak characters manage to arrive at just the necessary moments. Time means nothing as the entire screenplay appears as if it takes place in about two days. Ultimately, the sequel adds nothing to the continuation of the “Pacific Rim” franchise.

Grade: C (Entertaining, but it is a medium uprising for entertainment.)

“Sherlock Gnomes” (Animation/Adventure: 1 hour, 26 minutes)

Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maggie Smith and Michael Caine

Director: John Stevenson

Rated: PG (Violence, crude and suggestive humor)

 

Movie Review: The sequel to the 2011’s “Gnomeo & Juliet (Director Kelly Asbury, 2011) is a different type of movie. It is really another Sherlock Holmes movie via an alternative moniker “Sherlock Gnomes.”

It is very different from its prequel, yet it is entertaining.

Garden gnomes Gnomeo (McAvoy) and Juliet (Blunt) team up with renowned detective Sherlock Gnomes (Depp) and his assistant, Dr. Watson (Ejiofor). They investigate the mysterious disappearance of garden gnomes.

Their ventures will be dangerous, for the Sherlock Gnome’s malevolent archnemesis, Moriarty (Jamie Demetriou) is afoot.

The screenplay’s plot combines garden gnome statues that come to life when humans are not looking and a garden-like Sherlock Holmes statue that does similarly. The joined characters are a weird coupling and narrative, but they manage to give audiences an adventure and a mystery to solve.

Grade: C+ (Entertaining, despite an odd mixing of characters.)

“Unsane” (Horror: 1 hour, 38 minutes)

Starring: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard and Jay Pharoah

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Rated: R (Profanity, violence and thematic elements)

 

Movie Review: Steven Soderbergh (“Erin Brockovich,” 2000) delivers something unique with “Unsane.” This is a different kind of movie. It has the ambiance of something from the 1980s, opening credits and all. It is eerie yet suspenseful.

Sawyer Valentini (Foy) is involuntarily committed to a mental institution. There, she encounters David Strine (Leonard), a guy who stalked her before she moved to her current city. Is Strine there at the mental institution or is Valentini delusional?

Although a horror at its core, “Unsane” is also a psychological thriller, which is its best part. However, the movie does not stay committed to the mental play long enough. The movie quickly moves to mild horror aspects.

Still, it manages to intrigue with a mystery and unexpected twists. Multiple unseen stories become one in a manner that is dynamic enough to hold one’s attention.

Grade: B (Rational enough B-movie …)

“Paul, Apostle of Christ” (Drama/Religion: 1 hour, 48 minutes)

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Olivier Martinez and James Faulkner,

Director: Andrew Hyatt

Rated: PG-13 (Violence and disturbing imagery)

 

Movie Review: Great effort was rendered to create this narrative that is visually acute. However, the movie is predictable, especially the main protagonists shift to believing.

Luke (Caviezel) visits an imprisoned Paul (Faulkner), now the de facto leader of Christians in 67 AD. As a friend and physician, Luke risks his life in Rome to document Paul’s account of the way to salvation. Luke must act quickly as Emperor Nero has ordered Paul’s execution as a step to rid Rome of Christians.

“Paul” appears a repetitive process, one where the acting works from Faulkner in the title role. As Luke documents Paul’s life, he asks questions like he is merely doing an interview to share his knowledge. The process is formulaic every other scene.

While the Gospel of Jesus, via Faulkner’s Paul, is resounding throughout, the movie fails to be bold enough to inspire beyond its message.

Grade: C+ (Paul is intriguing, but the dramatic process around him is not.)