“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Adventure/Comedy: 1 hour, 31 minutes)

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and William Sadler

Director: Dean Parisot

Rated: PG-13 (Langauge)

Movie Review: In 1989, Bill and Ted went on a most excellent adventure in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (Director Stephen Herek), a cult classic. 

Their adventure is now a mediocre one. In “Bill and Ted Face the Music,” the actors have aged, and their story this outing is dated material, too.

Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) once time-traveled to save the universe. Their temporal adventures begin again when a future governing council of 2720 calls on them to save the universe. 

Fractures in the space-time continuum are causing chaos in the universe. Bill and Ted’s task is to fulfill their destiny to write music that will save the world once played. The now middle-aged dads must work with their daughters and other musicians, including Death (Sadler), to restore the universe before humanity’s destruction.

San Dimas, Calif., is the initial setting for this mush. The movie makes one want to drive on by this city.

Dean Parisot directs, and Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon are the writers for the wayward plot. They forget to create a comedy of today. It takes comedic moments from 30 years ago and tries to revive them for modern audiences. Some comedy dies with its decade.

The characters are weak. The adventure is most un-excellent. The deluge of a large cast creates substories that are random and fragmented.

The tile of this duo’s second movie, “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” (Director Peter Hewitt,1991), describes this third movie of this time-traveling series.

Grade: C- (This time, they do not ‘Rock on, Dude!’)

“The New Mutants” (Action/Horror: 1 hour, 31 minutes)

Starring: Blu Hunt, Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Henry Zaga and Charlie Heaton

Director: Josh Boone

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, gore, bloody imagery, strong language, thematic elements and suggestive material)

Movie Review: This is one of Marvel Universe’s better X-Men derivatives. It features a superhero movie that plays like a horror genre feature. It has something for multiple audiences. Its best feature is a set of mutant characters who have appeal and feel tangible.

Danielle Moonstar (Hunt) awakes in a medical facility for mutants run by Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga). Moonstar is unaware of her mutant ability. She is just one of five patients in the facility. The others are Rahne Sinclair (Williams), who can transfer into a wolf, Illyana Rasputin (Taylor-Joy), who can teleport with her powerful sword, human cannonball Sam Guthrie (Heaton) and Roberto da Costa (Zaga) with the ability to become a miniature humanoid sun. 

Dr. Reyes is an expert, helping these young mutants develop their abilities. The young group soon learns their rehabilitation stay is not what they expect when past sins become corporeal phenomena.

Sure, the five mutants whine too much and Danielle Moonstar’s ability pushes the limit, yet a certain realness exists that makes this movie work nicely. The script allows its young cast to be young. They are self-exploring beings, trying to understand their new adulthood along with their newfound abilities.

Director Josh Boone (“The Fault in Our Stars,” 2014) and screenplay scripter Knate Lee create a worthwhile script. They provide characters who reel in audiences. 

The mutants are all different types of people forced together. A quick observation of the five young mutants plays like an episode of MTV’s reality show “The Real World.” They clash, arguing and fighting constantly. As they grow as on-screen personas, audiences have a chance to get to know them and their evolving powers. 

Even more, this action movie entertains with the best of superhero movies by adding a horror element. Although the frights and some of the scary beings are similar slightly to an episode of television’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997), the movie’s eerie nature adds to the creepy setting in which these powerful mutants exist.

This spinoff of the X-Men realm scores major points with plenty of action and grand characters. “The New Mutants” is the perfect movie to welcome audiences back to cinemas. This new addition to Marvel Universe is a good mutation.

Grade: B+ (The New Good)

“The Personal History of David Copperfield” (Drama: 1 hour, 59 minutes)

Starring: Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton

Director: Armando Iannucci

Rated: PG (Thematic material and brief violence)

Movie Review: Armando Iannucci is a masterful director with only a few films under his belt. Check out “The Death of Stalin” (2017) for confirmation. “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is delightfully weird like Iannucci’s previous works. That fits, yet it is also as taxing as it is delightful.

This new take on Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical masterwork tells the tale of David Copperfield (younger played by a talented Ranveer Jaiswal and the older by Dev Patel). The story follows the young man’s life as he goes from poverty to wealth. As he travels, he encounters the best of humanity and the worst.

This is not the movie to see if you are tired. The changing settings and changing races of people who are supposedly the same family are scattered visuals.

The visuals are artistic. They are boldly refreshing, fitting the story. The set designs and costumes are vivid and take on a distinctivenesses that facilitate the stories changing dynamics.

Black mothers with white offspring, white parents with Indian children, and an Asian parent with a black daughter are just a few racial mixes. This United Nations’ dream world is also distracting. If one goes to the restroom and returns, such cinematic feats could discombobulate a moviegoer.

Although an overload of diversity, “David Copperfield” keeps changing from one setting to the next, delivering neat characters as it does. A talented cast plays these people. This is what keeps the movie together. Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton and Aneurin Barnard deliver fine performances. Dev Patel proves he is still a leading man. His performance is the peak of this movie.

Grade: B- (Artistry overdone, but pleasing acting delivers.)

“Tulsa” (Drama: 2 hours)

Starring: Scott Pryor, Livi Birch and Nicole Marie Johnson

Directors: Scott Pryor, Gloria Stella

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic material and some substance abuse)

Movie Review: “Tulsa” has endearing characters. A young Livi Birch and Scott Pryor are interesting characters. They charm in their own small dysfunctional family. However, this story feels far from authentic although it is based on true events.

Tommy Coulson (Pryor), a former Marine and biker, faces the greatest challenge when his domineering 9-year-old daughter, Tulsa (Birch), moves in with him. While waiting for paternity tests to arrive, Tommy allows Tulsa to remain with him. 

During that time, the two grow closer, helping each other through bad moments with love, faith and friends.

Tulsa and Tommy are intriguing but their story is not equally substantial. The story appears unbelievable, especially the initial meeting of Tommy and Tulsa.

Actor-producers Scott Pryor (“The List,” 2015) and Gloria Stella make their directorial debuts with “Tulsa.” It is an inviting movie but it never feels accurate in a manner that convinces. It feels more like a cable television movie that plays on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Like most faith-based movies, it relies on tragedy to preach its point — William Shakespeare would be proud. Simultaneously, it relies on emotional content to push audiences. It has its grand emotional moments but many of them are unneeded to promote an already pressed religiosity.

Grade: C- (Real does not mean believable.)

“Unhinged” (Thriller: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

Starring: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius and Gabriel Bateman

Director: Derrick Borte

Rated: R (strong violent content, and profanity)

Movie Review: “Unhinged” is a disjointed screenplay. It contains characters making stupid decisions continuously. 

Apparently, the city in which these people exist has defunded their police departments. Law enforcement only appears when the story deems it necessary for thrills. Perhaps, even the police knew to stay away from this lackluster, exaggerated thriller.

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe stars as Tom Cooper, a man having a bad day. He encounters Rachel (Pistorius) and her son, Kyle (Bateman). Rachel is also having a bad day, and the traffic jams are not helping. 

Cooper and Rachel exchange words in a brief confrontation at an intersection. The unstable Cooper apologizes, but Rachel refuses to offer the same courtesy. Cooper begins following Rachel, making her the target of his road rage.

Crowe is a very talented man. Throughout this photoplay, he is fascinating as a man on edge. Crowe already has that murderer vibe. Crowe’s Cooper tells Pistorius’ Rachel, “I don’t think you know what a bad day is! But you’ll find out.”

Rachel does not take Cooper seriously, yet she should. Crowe has that domineering demeanor that screams I am going to kill you and eat your heart later for dessert.

Audiences should not take this movie seriously. 

Despite, some intense violent moments, Rachel never appears to make the correct decision, and her actions are deplorably irritating. A maniac is chasing you around town, so picking up your son from school and making him a target is not a wise decision. 

Main characters are constantly driving while chatting on cellular phones, but they never have an accident. They just cause several wrecks where others die or suffer injures. The biggest wreck is this inflated screenplay by its director, Derrick Borte (“The Joneses,” 2009).

Grade: D+ (“Unhinged” is unbalanced film writing.)

“Words on Bathroom Walls” (Drama: 1 hour, 51 minutes)

Starring: Charlie Plummer, Molly Parker, Taylor Russell, Walton Goggins and Andy Garcia

Director: Thor Freudenthal

Rated: PG-13 (Mature thematic content involving mental illness, some sexual references, strong language and violence)

Movie Review: Based on Julia Walton’s novel, “Words on Bathroom Walls” is an engaging story. It draws one in with the performance of Charlie Plummer. He charms as the movie’s lead, but the story quickly becomes a formulaic romance as it nears its conclusion.

Adam Petrazelli (Plummer) is a senior in high school who wants to be a chef and own a restaurant one day. He lives with his mother, Beth (Parker), and her partner, Paul (Goggins), who Adam resents. 

One day, medical doctors diagnose Adam with a mental illness. Adam suffers from schizophrenia. The young man’s illness presents new challenges, but new medication and meeting the school’s presumptive valedictorian, Maya Arnez (a charming Russell), changes matters for Adam.

Plummer is a talented young actor. His blond locks and youthful appearance reminds one of the big stars from the 1990s. Plummer gives a memorable performance.

What saves the movie is its ability to provide insight into it its main character through his connections to others. Plummer and Andy Garcia are dynamic. Garcia plays Father Patrick, a priest who serves as Adam’s therapist through confessional moments. The two provide humor about love, relationships and religion.

Plummer and Russell play their romantic relationship nicely. They meet in an abandoned bathroom with walls covered in graffiti — which parallel this movie’s title. You want the beautiful couple to be happy. Of course, the charm slowly evaporates when the movie becomes a slightly stereotypical romance.

Thor Freudenthal uses tactics similar to those in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” (2010) for “Words on Bathroom Walls.” The visual graphics provide nice attention-getting moments and helps one see the world as Adam Petrazellli does. The tactics work until the ending becomes commonplace material. 

Up until then, this movie shines.

Grade: B (Meaningful words)

Adann-Kennn Alexxandar lives and works in Valdosta. He may be reached at alexxandar-movies@email.com.